IEC GUIDE 109:2003

INTERNATIONAL GUIDE
STANDARD
Second edition
2003-06
Environmental aspects –
Inclusion in electrotechnical
product standards
Aspects liés à l'environnement –
Prise en compte dans les normes
électrotechniques de produits
Reference number
INTERNATIONAL GUIDE
STANDARD
Second edition
2003-06
Environmental aspects –
Inclusion in electrotechnical
product standards
Aspects liés à l'environnement –
Prise en compte dans les normes
électrotechniques de produits
 IEC 2003  Copyright - all rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from the publisher.
International Electrotechnical Commission, 3, rue de Varembé, PO Box 131, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Telephone: +41 22 919 02 11 Telefax: +41 22 919 03 00 E-mail: inmail@iec.ch  Web: www.iec.ch
PRICE CODE
Commission Electrotechnique Internationale
M
International Electrotechnical Commission
Международная Электротехническая Комиссия
For price, see current catalogue

– 2 – GUIDE 109  IEC:2003(E)
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

___________
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS –
INCLUSION IN ELECTROTECHNICAL PRODUCT STANDARDS

FOREWORD
This second edition of IEC Guide 109 has been prepared, in accordance with the procedure

given in Annex A of Part 1 of the ISO/IEC directives, by the IEC Advisory Committee on
Environmental Aspects (ACEA).
The text of this Guide is based on the following documents:
Approval document Report on voting
C/1289/DV C/1304A/RV
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Guide can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
IEC Environmental Policy
“IEC recognizes the growing importance of preserving the environment and the role
electrotechnical standardization has to play to foster sustainable development. Therefore it
is the responsibility of IEC staff and technical committees, members and experts, to
contribute actively to the evolving standards framework for the benefit of the environment.
For this purpose, the IEC cooperates with ISO and regional standards development
organizations such as CENELEC. With respect to product-related standards, IEC technical
committees must assess and continuously improve new and existing standards in view of
reducing adverse environmental impacts over the whole life cycle of products. The IEC will
monitor and annually report progress according to this policy.”
The IEC Environmental Policy has been approved by the IEC Council Board. IEC Guide 109
helps to fulfil this policy by illustrating how environmental aspects can be included in
electrotechnical product standards.

GUIDE 109  IEC:2003(E) – 3 –
INTRODUCTION
This Guide aims to give advice to standards writers on the way the environment should be

considered among all the aspects relevant to standards.

Finding an appropriate solution for the product is the task of product designers; this solution

will be a trade-off along various dimensions (safety, environment, cost, technology, function

and so on). This Guide is intended for standards writers, not for product designers; it aims at

encouraging standards which preserve the natural environment while allowing designers to

reach the best practical compromise among the constraints.

*
The need to reduce the adverse impacts on the natural environment of a product during all
phases of its life – from acquiring materials to manufacturing, distribution, use, and end-of-life
treatment (i.e. re-use, recycling (recovery and disposal)) – is recognized in most countries
around the world. The choices made at the design stage largely determine what those impacts
will be during each phase of the life of that product. There are, however, considerable
obstacles that make the task of selecting the best environmental options very complex. For
example, selecting design options to reduce adverse environmental impacts can involve
difficult trade-offs such as less recyclability for more energy efficiency.
Requirements for products may influence significantly the extent of environmental effects.
Standards should promote the selection of design options in order to reduce adverse impacts.
Furthermore, standards must not prohibit innovation in any sense. Standards writers should
encourage the protection of the environment, for instance, by specifying requirements which
do not rule out the appropriate use of recycled material and the re-use of components,
subsystems and systems.
The continual introduction of new products and materials can make evaluation increasingly
complex, since additional data must be gathered to assess the life-cycle impacts of such new
products and materials. Moreover, there is currently very little data available on the
environmental impacts of some existing materials. However, the data which exists can be
used as a basis for improvement of the products with respect to environmental impacts. Life-
Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Design For Environment (DFE) – or rather Environmentally
Conscious Design (ECD)** – principles provide additional instruments that may be useful in
this respect. ISO/TR 14062 gives all those involved information on how to integrate ECD
principles into product design and development. Standards writers are not expected to
perform Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) but to encourage ECD.
Until more data are available, manufacturers can document more extensively the specific
design choices and the reasons behind them. Besides generating requirements for
environment-specific standardization, doing this expands the knowledge based on such
options and choices, and it may also assist recycling and disposal at the End of Life of the

product (EOL).
In this context, it should be noted that a standards writer should also give careful
consideration to their impacts on the environment when specifying test methods.
Standards writers need comparative environmental data on materials and substances.
However, they should handle information derived from LCA studies with great care when
making choices needed for a standard. This may require consultation with advisory
committees on environmental aspects within national, regional and international standards
bodies.
___________
*
Although the term product has been used throughout this Guide, the concept also embraces processes and
services as appropriate.
** For the process of integrating environmental aspects into product design and development, various terms are
used such as Design For Environment (DFE), eco-design, Environmentally Conscious Design (ECD), etc. ECD
will be used in this document to represent the various terms.

– 4 – GUIDE 109  IEC:2003(E)
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS — INCLUSION IN ELECTROTECHNICAL

PRODUCT STANDARDS
1 Scope
IEC Guide 109 is intended for standards writers and gives guidance on how to consider
aspects relating to the impact on the environment of electrotechnical products when preparing

standards for such products.
Its purpose is
a) to raise awareness that provisions in product standards can affect the environment in both
negative and positive ways;
b) to outline the relationship between product standards and the environment;
c) to help avoid provisions in product standards that may lead to adverse environmental
impacts;
d) to emphasize that addressing environmental aspects during the development of product
standards is a complex process and requires balancing competing priorities;
e) to recommend the use of life-cycle thinking when addressing environmental aspects in the
context of product standardization.
This Guide converges as far as possible with ISO Guide 64.
2 Reference documents
ISO 14001:1996, Environmental management systems – Specification with guidance for use
ISO/TR 14062:2002, Environmental management – Integrating environmental aspects into
product design and development
ISO 11469:2000, Plastics – Generic identification and marking of plastics products
ISO 14040:1997, Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and
framework
ISO 17422:2002, Plastics – Environmental aspects – General guidelines for their inclusion in

standards
ISO Guide 64:1997, Guide for the inclusion of environmental aspects in product standards
ISO/IEC Guide 2:1996, Standardization and related activities – General vocabulary
3 Definitions
For the purposes of this Guide, the following definitions apply.
3.1
End of Life (EOL)
state of a product when it is finally removed from its intended use or original purpose

GUIDE 109  IEC:2003(E) – 5 –
3.2
energy recovery
use of combustible waste as a means to generate energy through direct incineration with or

without other waste but with recovery of the heat

3.3
environment
surroundings in which an organization operates, including air, water, land, natural resources,

flora, fauna, humans, and their interrelation

[ISO 14001]
NOTE 1 “Organization” in this Guide includes the products produced by the organization.
NOTE 2 “Environment” in this Guide does not refer to the surrounding atmosphere influencing an electrotechnical
product (such as humidity or temperature), nor to the business environment. It is used as a synonym of “ecological
environment”.
3.4
environmental aspect
element of an organization's activities, products or services that can interact with the
environment
NOTE A significant environmental aspect is an environmental aspect that has or can have a significant environ-
mental impact.
[ISO 14001]
NOTE For example, energy consumption is, in many cases, the major environmental aspect of electrical or
electronic products.
3.5
environmental impact
change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partly resulting from an
organization's activities, products or services
[ISO 14001]
NOTE For example, energy consumption of a product has several environmental impacts through the energy
production process, such as contributions to the greenhouse effect or to acidification of the environment.
3.6
hazardous substance
substance which can adversely affect human health or the environment with immediate or
retarded effect
NOTE The risk of adverse effects on the environment caused by a hazardous substance is not only determined by

the hazardousness of the substance, but also by the quantity and the probability of its release. The risk has,
therefore, to be assessed taking all these factors and the entire product life cycle into account.
3.7
input
material or energy which enters a product system at any stage, from raw material acquisition
to final disposal
3.8
life cycle
consecutive and interlinked stages of a product system, from raw material acquisition or
generation of natural resources to the final disposal
[ISO 14040]
– 6 – GUIDE 109  IEC:2003(E)
3.9
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
systematic set of procedures for compiling and examining the inputs and outputs of materials

and energy and associated environmental impacts directly attributable to the functioning of a

product system throughout its life cycle

[ISO 14040]
3.10
Life-Cycle Thinking (LCT)
consideration of all relevant environmental aspects (of a product) during the entire (product)

life cycle
3.11
output
material or energy which leaves a product system at any stage, from raw material acquisition
to final disposal
3.12
pollution
all adverse effects on the environment caused by the release of organic or inorganic
materials, hazardous substances, radiation or noise
3.13
prevention of pollution
use of processes, practices, materials or products that avoid, reduce or control pollution,
which may include recycling, treatment, process changes, control mechanisms, efficient use
of materials and material substitution
NOTE The potential benefits of prevention of pollution include the reduction of environmental impacts, improved
efficiency and reduced costs.
[ISO 14001]
3.14
product standard
standard that specifies requirements to be fulfilled by a product or group of products, to
establish its fitness for purpose
NOTE 1 A product standard may include, in addition to the fitness-for-purpose requirements, directly or by
reference, aspects such as terminology, sampling, testing, packaging and labelling and, sometimes, processing
requirements.
NOTE 2 A product standard can either be complete or not, according to whether it specifies all or only a part of
the necessary requirements. In this respect, one may differentiate between standards such as dimensional,
material and technical delivery standards.

[ISO/IEC Guide 2]
3.15
recyclability
property of a substance or a material and parts/products made thereof that makes it possible
for them to be recycled
NOTE The recyclability of a product is not only determined by the recyclability of the materials it contains.
Product structure and logistics are also very important factors.
3.16
recycling
reprocessing in a production process of the waste materials for the original purpose or for
other purposes but excluding energy recovery

GUIDE 109  IEC:2003(E) – 7 –
3.17
standards writer
person taking part in the preparation of standards

3.18
waste
substance or object which the holder disposes of, or is required to dispose of, pursuant to the

provisions of national law in force

[EEC Directive 75/442]
4 General considerations on product standards and the environment
4.1 Introduction
Every product has some impact on the environment. These impacts may occur at any or all
stages of the product's life cycle and can be local, regional or global, or a combination of all
three.
A product's environmental impacts are largely determined by the inputs that are used and the
outputs that are generated at all stages of the product's life cycle. Changing any single input
or output may affect other inputs and outputs.
Anticipating or identifying a product's environmental impacts is complex, and agreement is
occasionally lacking on environmental cause-and-effect relationships. Attempts to address a
given environmental impact may have consequences at any or all of the stages of a product's
life cycle.
Despite the difficulties involved, a product's environmental impacts should be considered
when product standards are developed.
A product's environmental impacts should be balanced against other factors, such as product
function, performance, safety and health, cost, marketability and quality; legal and regulatory
requirements
...