PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) is a tool used to measure sustainability. It is a life cycle assessment tool extended by the European Commission to create a single market for green product communication. PEF aims to avoid confusion in the European market with its 465 labels, by creating a unified and fair system for the industry. PEF includes the cradle-to-grave approach, taking into account the complete lifecycle of a product, including raw material, manufacturing, distribution, and end-of-life. The tool uses 16 impact categories to calculate the life cycle footprint and provide a PEF score. Currently, PEF is available for decorative paints in four categories (mineral, wall, wood, and metal).
Karthik Kumar is the new sustainability officer at CEPE since 2020. Some of his responsibilities include the development of the PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) project for Decorative paints, EU Ecolabel, and the upcoming Green Deal initiatives such as the Eco design, Safe and sustainable by design, Extended Producer Responsibility, etc. He holds a master’s degree in Sustainable Resource Management from the Technical University of Munich, Germany, and holds a variety of experience working around product sustainability.
