National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 59040:2025.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee CED/1.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 28 February 2025.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 323, Circular economy.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

The global economy is “linear” as it is mainly based on extraction, production, use and disposal. This linear economy leads to resource depletion, biodiversity loss, waste and harmful losses and releases, all of which collectively are causing serious damage to the capacity of the planet to continue to provide for the needs of future generations.^[⁴⁹^] Moreover, several planetary boundaries have already been reached or exceeded.

There is an increased understanding that a transition towards an economy that is more circular, based on a circular use of resources, can contribute to meeting current and future human needs (welfare, housing, nutrition, healthcare, mobility, etc.). Transitioning towards a circular economy can also contribute to the creation and sharing of more value within society and interested parties, while natural resources are managed to be replenished and renewed and in a sustainable way, securing the quality and resilience of ecosystems.

Organizations recognize many potential reasons to engage in a circular economy (e.g. delivering more ambitious and sustainable solutions; improved relationships with interested parties; more effective and efficient ways to fulfil voluntary commitments or legal requirements; engaging in climate change mitigation or adaptation; managing resource scarcity risks, increasing resilience in the environmental, social and economic systems), while contributing to satisfying human needs.

The ISO 59000 family of standards (see Figure 1) is designed to harmonize the understanding of the circular economy and to support its implementation and measurement. It also considers organizations, such as government, industry and non-profit, in contributing to the achievement of the United Nations (UN) Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development^[⁵⁰^].

Organizations throughout the world work with suppliers to acquire products. Many organizations establish multiple supplier relationships to cover a variety of business needs, such as purchasing, development, manufacturing, sales and after sales services. Conversely, suppliers provide products to a range of acquirers.

Acquirers and suppliers willing to enter or having entered a relationship for the purpose of dealing with a variety of products should introduce the product circularity data sheet (PCDS) based on the circular economy principles described in the ISO 59000 family of standards. The PCDS is intended to provide information to support the understanding of the circularity aspects of a product, as aligned to the circular economy principles according to the ISO 59000 family of standards. The PCDS is a method of reporting on the circularity performance of a product using PCDS statements providing verifiable data.

This document:

provides a general methodology for establishing, managing and maintaining a PCDS when acquiring or supplying products;
specifies requirements for the reporting of information to be used when creating a PCDS template and provides guidance about managing and sharing a PCDS;
contains requirements and guidance on how to exchange product information that supports the circular economy using a PCDS;
is intended to facilitate circular economy business models as specified in ISO 59010, by focusing on the exchange of circularity aspects of products (business to business relationship);
is intended to be used by any organization wishing to adopt circular-economy-based practices in their supplier or acquirer relationships.

Data collected by this method can be used for digitalized product documentation.

In order to ensure the application of this document, it can be beneficial to have in place tested and mature systems that apply the specified methodology for managing product circularity data. In accordance with ISO/IEC Guide 17, suitable solutions for all sizes of enterprises should be accessible to reduce burdens. To ensure that small businesses can effectively manage the systems and conform to this document, training programmes can be established. These programmes can aim to educate small businesses on how to use the systems and understand the requirements of this document. Recognizing that small businesses require more time and resources to implement this document, a transition period can be provided.

The structure of this document is shown in Figure 2.

Clause 5 provides acquirer and supplier guidance for successfully developing and implementing an acquirer and supplier relationship strategy and an acquirer and supplier relationship plan with the associated agreement. Clause 5 also provides guidance for considering PCDS from a risk management perspective.

The guidance contained in Clause 5 should be followed by an organization in the context of using a PCDS when acquiring products or when supplying them, or both.

Clause 6 provides requirements and guidance for establishing and maintaining a PCDS template. It provides guidance on mandatory and additional statements that can be considered when establishing a PCDS template.

Clause 7 provides requirements and guidance to suppliers on processes to produce and manage a PCDS. A supplier is providing answers to each mandatory statement of a PCDS template in order to claim conformance to this document. The additional statements and supplementary information of a PCDS template are not a requirement of this document, meaning that a supplier may claim conformance to this document without completing them.

Clause 8 provides guidance on specific application and usage of a PCDS.

Annex A provides a relationship table between Clause 6 and PCDS statements, which summarizes mandatory and additional statements.

1 Scope

This document establishes a general methodology for information exchange supporting the interoperability of circular economy related information, based on the use of a product circularity data sheet (PCDS).

This document specifies requirements for completing a PCDS by an organization, regardless of its type, size and nature, when acquiring or supplying products in order to permit the exchange of circular economy related information about those products, without disclosing confidential business information.

This document also specifies requirements for the reporting format to be used when creating a PCDS template, based on the selection and use of various product circularity statements, according to the characteristics of the product.

In addition, this document gives guidance on managing and sharing a PCDS, as well as guidance on creating a PCDS template.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

3.1 Terms related to acquirer and supplier relationship

3.2 Terms related to product circularity data sheet

3.3 Terms related to conformity assessment

4 Abbreviated terms

5 Governance for managing a PCDS

5.1 General

5.2 Acquirer and supplier relationship strategy

5.3 Acquirer and supplier relationship plan and associated agreement

5.4 PCDS risk assessment and risk treatment

6 Establishing and maintaining a PCDS template

6.1 PCDS template

6.2 PCDS template structure

6.3 Category: PCDS template (UID 1.0.0.00)

6.4 Category: Company and product information (UID 2.0.0.00)

6.5 Category: Material inputs (UID 3.0.0.00)

6.6 Category: Circular production (UID 4.0.0.00)

6.7 Category: Durability and extended lifetime (UID 5.0.0.00)

6.8 Category: Circularity at end of product use period (UID 6.0.0.00)

6.9 Category: Circularity benefits (UID 7.0.0.00)

7 Managing a PCDS

7.1 Prerequisites to the handling of a PCDS

7.2 Sharing a PCDS

7.3 DI governance process for PCDS

7.4 PCDS change process

7.5 PCDS incident management process — Requirements

7.6 PCDS conformity assessment

8 Guidance on the specific use of a PCDS

8.1 General

8.2 Compiling information in a PCDS

8.3 Use of ranges

8.4 Data availability

Bibliography

BS ISO 59040:2025

Circular economy. Product circularity data sheet

Current

Published:

28 Feb 2025