CEN/TR 17341:2019

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-maj-2019
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Bio-based products - Examples of reporting on sustainability criteria
Biobasierte Produkte - Beispiele für die Berichterstattung zu Nachhaltigkeitskriterien
Produits biosourcés - Exemples de rapports relatifs aux critères de durabilité
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN/TR 17341:2019
ICS:
13.020.55 Biološki izdelki Biobased products
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

CEN/TR 17341
TECHNICAL REPORT
RAPPORT TECHNIQUE
February 2019
TECHNISCHER BERICHT
ICS 13.020.55
English Version
Bio-based products - Examples of reporting on
sustainability criteria
Produits biosourcés - Exemples de rapports relatifs aux Biobasierte Produkte - Beispiele für die
critères de durabilité Berichterstattung zu Nachhaltigkeitskriterien

This Technical Report was approved by CEN on 8 February 2019. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 411.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey and United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2019 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN/TR 17341:2019 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 General guidance . 5
5 Examples of reporting . 6
5.1 General . 6
5.2 Example 1 – Agricultural-based supply chain in Europe . 7
5.3 Example 2 – Sawn timber from Swedish forests . 17
5.4 Example 3 – Cellulose pulp produced in Sweden . 27
Bibliography . 39

European foreword
This document (CEN/TR 17341:2019) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 411 “Bio-
based products”, the secretariat of which is held by NEN.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and the
European Free Trade Association.
Introduction
Bio-based products from forestry and agriculture have a long history of application, such as paper, board
and various chemicals and materials. The last decades have seen the emergence of new bio-based
products in the market. Some of the reasons for the increased interest lie in the bio-based products’
benefits in relation to the depletion of fossil resources and climate change. Bio-based products may also
provide additional product functionalities. This has triggered a wave of innovation with the development
of knowledge and technologies allowing new transformation processes and product development.
Acknowledging the need for common standards for bio-based products, the European Commission issued
mandate M/4921, resulting in a series of standards developed by CEN/TC 411, with a focus on bio-based
products other than food, feed and biomass for energy applications.
The standards of CEN/TC 411 “Bio-based products” provide a common basis on the following aspects:
— Common terminology;
— Bio-based content determination;
— Life Cycle Assessment (LCA);
— Sustainability aspects;
— Declaration tools.
It is important to understand what the term bio-based product covers and how it is being used. The term
‘biobased’ means 'derived from biomass'. Bio-based products (bottles, insulation materials, wood and
wood products, paper, solvents, chemical intermediates, composite materials, et cetera) are products
which are wholly or partly derived from biomass. It is essential to characterize the amount of biomass
contained in the product by for instance its bio-based content or bio-based carbon content.
The bio-based content of a product does not provide information on its environmental impact or
sustainability, which may be assessed through LCA and sustainability criteria. In addition, transparent
and unambiguous communication within bio-based value chains is facilitated by a harmonized
framework for certification and declaration.
The aim of this Technical Report is to give some examples on how to apply EN 16751 Bio-based products
– Sustainability criteria. These examples give guidance and ideas on how to respond to the indicators in
that European Standard.
1 Scope
This document provides examples of business to business (B2B) reporting in accordance with EN 16751
Bio-based products – Sustainability criteria. This Technical Report also offers some additional guidance
to the user of EN 16751.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 16751, Bio-based products — Sustainability criteria
EN 16575, Bio-based products — Vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 16575 and EN 16751 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
4 General guidance
The examples in Clause 5 give additional information and guidance to the economic operator and other
users of EN 16751 to better understand and respond to the indicators in that standard. According to
EN 16751, it is required to report on the sustainability of the biomass production, and it is encouraged to
apply the standard to the entire supply chain (including the biomass production).
In this TR, one of the examples is only regarding the biomass production while two are for the entire
supply chain until leaving the mill/factory of the economic operator applying the standard. The examples
provided in this Technical Report are not a comprehensive list.
These examples are informative and intended as help for an economic operator applying EN 16751. In
practice, it is the business-to-business and/or the business-to-consumer relationship that determines the
level of ambition, which can thus be both higher and lower than in these examples.
The level of detail in the responses in these examples differ. Since usually economic and administrative
burdens are connected with acquiring the necessary information, in practice, the level of risk for
significant negative sustainability impacts should be a guiding principle. In case the level of risk is deemed
low or very low, the justification should be transparently documented.
Some indicators in EN 16751 may be wholly or partly covered by relevant legal requirements, national
regulations or recognized best practice. One example is proven implementation of sustainable
agricultural cultivation/good farming practice, including crop rotation on all agriculturally used areas
according to Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 Cross Compliance, or according to national legislation.
If the organization is certified under a voluntary certification system that covers one or more indicators
required by EN 16751, this may be referenced in the response(s). If the organization is applying a
management system such as EN ISO 14001, EMAS or EN ISO 50001, this may also be referenced in the
responses.
As stated in 4.1 of EN 16751, in some cases the response to an indicator may be “not relevant” or “not
applicable” together with a justification.
In some cases, this is obvious and the justification can be just a couple of explanatory sentences.
EXAMPLE
Examples of such situations:
— A farmer has no employees. Therefore, the indicators regarding labour rights, working conditions
and living conditions are not relevant/applicable.
— A forest owner does not use any irrigation (only water is precipitation). Therefore, the indicators
regarding water quantity are not relevant/applicable.
— A processing plant is operating in an area where there are sufficient water resources available, both
intra-annually (i.e. considering different seasons within a year) and inter-annually (i.e. considering
several years). Therefore, the indicators regarding areas with water scarcity (aiming to secure water
availability for human consumption and food production) are not relevant/applicable.
See also the following examples for more details on water availability in more complex cases, such
as areas where the water availability varies over the year.
— In aquaculture (especially in sea water) impact on soil can be diminutive/not existent. Therefore, the
indicators regarding soil are not relevant/applicable.
In other cases, however, “not relevant” or “not applicable” can only be the conclusion of a detailed
procedure.
EXAMPLE
Examples of such situations:
— The statement if an economic operator acts in an area with water scarcity or water-rich area follows
from the execution of the suitable “water criteria” or “water indicators” of EN 16751, respectively.
These are 3.34 water availability, 3.35 water scarcity, 5.3. Water and 6.3. Water Use Rights. In doing
so it needs to be emphasized that also seasonal fluctuations and/or deferrals in the water supply due
to climate change, that are already discernible, have to be sufficiently taken into account. Moreover
it needs to be explained how the distinction of an area with water scarcity or water-rich area was
carried out. For the scope it should, where applicable, be taken into account if the admixture of
irrigation water and/or production water can cause problems in the regions of origin of that water.
The issue of conflicts between upstream and downstream riparians alongside irrigation channels
should be addressed where necessary. If feasible, key figures for the efficiency of the water usage and
for the access to water should be specified. For example:
— Cubic meter of irrigation water per kilogram of biomass (dry matter)
— Liter of drinking water per inhabitant and day
Key figures allow comparison of efficiency of productions in the same region.
5 Examples of reporting
5.1 General
The following three examples are detailed below:
— Bio-based supply chain – agricultural-based supply chain in Europe (5.2);
— Biomass production – sawn timber from Swedish forests (5.3); and
— Bio-based supply chain – cellulose pulp produced in Sweden (5.4).
5.2 Example 1 – Agricultural-based supply chain in Europe
This example covers an entire agricultural-based supply chain in Europe. It includes sustainability
aspects from the agriculture (biomass production) and the following stages up to the final production of
a bio-based product.
Verification:
— The compliance with this standard has been verified by: [NAME]
— First/ Second/ Third Party verification (choose option) according to ISO/EN xxx.
Table 1 — Agricultural-based supply chain in Europe
SUSTAINABILITY CORRESPONDING RESPONSE JUSTIFICATION/ REMARKS / GUIDANCE /
PRINCIPLES and INDICATORS LIST OF CLARIFICATION
CRITERIA AVAILABLE
DOCUMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA
Climate protection and air quality
Principle: Promote good air quality and reduce GHG emissions.
Criterion: The Indicator: Describe 1) Life Cycle 1) LCA study on 1) GHG accounting and
economic procedures taken Assessment (LCA) is GHG accounting, management can be
operator provides to identify GHG used for identifying report, executed with tools free of
information on emissions and and quantifying the calculations tools charge like:
how greenhouse removals related main sources of etc.
http://www.biograce.net/
gas (GHG) to their operations. GHG emissions.
or by external consultants,
emissions and List the identified
or by internal functions of
removals related
emission sources
the company.
to their and removals and
operations are quantify them if
managed. possible.
Indicat
...