BS EN 16524:2020

What is BS EN 16524 about?  

BS EN 16524 discusses mechanical products and methodology for the reduction of environmental impacts in product design and development. BS EN 16524 describes a methodology for reducing the overall environmental impact through product design and development that is tailored to mechanical products. This methodology is particularly well suited to the redesign of an existing product. BS EN 16524 can also be applied for the design of a new product provided the necessary assumptions regarding a (virtual) reference product are taken. 

BS EN 16524 addresses companies that have decided to integrate an eco-design approach to optimize environmental impacts within the product life cycle, in relation to the other product aspects, such as functionality, quality, costs, and the like. 

BS EN 16524 also helps to meet some requirements of EN ISO 14001:2015 on the integration of environmental aspects in the design of products. 

Who is BS EN 16524 for? 

BS EN 16524 on the reduction of environmental impacts in product design and development is useful for all organizations, regardless of type, size, location, and complexity. It is useful for: 

• Environmental consultants and specialists 
• Environmental Management Systems managers 

Why should you use BS EN 16524? 

Eco-design methodologies can be divided into three types, depending on whether their purpose is the environmental assessment of products, the environmental improvement of products, or to enable the two phases to be carried out during the same eco-design project. The environmental assessment phase of products in the eco-design process can pose a challenge for companies (owing to the need for expertise, time, and resources). 

BS EN 16524 discusses the methodology developed to help designers identify ways of improving the environmental performance of a product without carrying out a complete environmental assessment of the product (in terms of LCA). BS EN 16524 give companies a pragmatic methodology to consider environmental aspects during their product design. 

BS EN 16524 allows you to identify and then reduce the environmental aspects of your product based on your capabilities, inform clients and public authorities about the environmental improvement approach on a mechanical product with this methodology (environmental claim). 

What’s changed since the last update?  

BS EN 16524:2020 supersedes CEN/TS 16524:2013. 

The main changes compared to the previous version are as follows: 

• The document is to be converted into a European standard 
• The link with EN ISO 14001 has been strengthened for users willing to comply with that international standard 
• Clause 5 has been added to detail the preparatory step before implementing the methodology, which consists of an overview of the framework and the methodology 
• The life cycle analysis (LCA) is only referred to as an example of existing data on the product, when available 
• The purpose of Annex F on the possible use of life cycle assessment for determining the score of each environmental aspect has been clarified