Publication of ISO 4370 “Environmental life cycle assessment and recycling of ductile iron pipes for water applications”

This standard offers the evaluation method of the environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA) of ductile iron pipes used for water applications as specified in ISO 2531 and ISO 16631.

The growing awareness of the importance of environmental protection, and the possible impacts associated with products, both manufactured and consumed, has increased interest in the development of methods to better understand and address these impacts. One of the techniques developed for this purpose is E-LCA.

E-LCA can assist in:

— identifying opportunities to improve the environmental performance of products at various points in their life cycle;

— informing decision-makers in industry, government or non-governmental organizations (e.g. for the purpose of strategic planning, priority setting, product or process design or redesign);

— the selection of relevant indicators of environmental performance, including measurement techniques;

— marketing (e.g. implementing an ecolabelling scheme, making an environmental claim, or producing an environmental product declaration).

The evaluation method, applicable to ductile iron pipe products, is based on concepts and methods developed in ISO 14040 and its application guidelines in ISO 14044. This standard is mainly focused on CO₂ emissions. The environmental impact associated with the consumption of natural resources or energy and waste disposal can be quantitatively estimated as the amount of CO₂ emissions. The methods can be applied also to other environmental factors, e.g. other greenhouse gases emissions, natural resources consumption, water consumption.

Studies on environmental impacts are important for utility decision-makers as they seek to balance budget concerns over immediate and long-term needs across acquisition, operation and maintenance, and planned end-of-life. For authorities and engineers designing pipeline systems, E-LCA serves as a tool to study various scenarios to determine the right solution for site-specific conditions and community values, as well as provide the necessary data to support those decisions.