Environment Product Declaration for Galvanizing
Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)
LCI data is a vital tool for the detailed study of the life-cycle environmental impacts of products and services. However, LCI data is not easy for product users to interpret and it is now increasingly common to communicate environmental performance through the simpler format of an environmental product declaration (EPD). EGGA has developed a Pan-European LCI study of an average galvanized steel product.
The final result of that work was a life-cycle inventory data set for the batch galvanizing process, based on data submitted by members of EGGA National Associations from their own operations according to ISO 14040/14044. The average energy, resource consumption and emission of substances to the environment, resulting from a LCI of a representative sample of plants operating at European level, were calculated according to the defined system boundaries.
Environmental product data for batch galvanizing is available for users and policy makers.
Hot dip galvanizing is a service of corrosion protection that may be supplied from a variety of operators that will not be identifiable at the specification stage in, for example, construction projects. A ‘corporate’ EPD may therefore be less useful for this type of corrosion protection service. Against this background, the European General Galvanizers Association (EGGA) appointed the Italian consultancy, Life Cycle Engineering, to generate a ‘sectoral’ EPD for the hot dip galvanizing of steel products.
The EPD is based on a sample covering more than 1 million tonnes (~19%) of the production from 66 companies in 14 countries for plants that were deemed highly representative of the European industry. In accordance with rules provided by the International EPD® System: PCR 2011:16 “Corrosion protection of fabricated steel products” version 2.1 and according to International Standard ISO 14040 Series on Life Cycle Assessment declared unit (the reference unit to which results are related) is presented for 1 year of protection of 1 m2 steel plate of 8mm thickness, calculated on the basis of the life span of 63 years predicted using EN ISO 14713-1. The results show that the environmental burdens of galvanizing are a very small proportion of the overall product (~5% for Global Warming Potential).
| Substrate | Steel plate with Dimension 1m x 1m x 8mm and weight of 62.4kg |
|---|---|
| Galvanized coating thickness (as EN ISO 1461) | 85 microns |
| Exposure environment | Corrosivity category C3 (as defined by ISO 9223) with an average zinc corrosion rate of 1.35 microns per year |
| Predicted maintenance-free galvanized coating life | Minimum 63 years |
| Functional unit (results) | Burdens per year of protection |
The galvanizing industry also works closely with the steel construction industry at national level to ensure that transparent and robust environmental data is available for galvanized steel products where it is required:
- In Germany, bauforumstahl e.V. and Industrieverband Feuerverzinken e.V. has cooperated to publish an EPD “Hot-dip galvanized structural steels: Open rolled sections and heavy plates” in accordance with the requirements of the Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V.
- In the Netherlands, Zink Info Benelux has worked with steel industry partners to include data on galvanized steel in the national Milieu Relevant Product Informatie (MRPI) database for construction products.
- In France, Galvazinc has prepared a Fiche de Déclaration Environnementale et Sanitaire (FDES) for galvanized steel.
EGGA sectoral EPD results (burdens per year of protection for a 1m x 1m x 8mm steel plate
| Environmental Impact Indicators | Contribution to galvanized steel from galvanizing to EN ISO 1461 |
|---|---|
| Global Warming Potential, GWP [ kg CO2 eq ] | 0,12 |
| Ozone Depletion Potential [ kg CFC-11 eq ] | 1,28E-08 |
| Photochemical Ozone Creation, POCP [ kg C2H4 eq ] | 3,50E-05 |
| Acidification Potential, AP [ kg SO2 eq ] | 1,05E-03 |
| Eutrophication Potential, EP [ kg PO4 eq ] | 9,30E-05 |
| Depletion of abiotic resources-fossil, ADP-fossil fuels [MJ] | 1,55 |
| Depletion of abiotic resources-elements, ADP-elements [kg Sb eq] | 1,19E-05 |
Sector EPD for Galvanizing
EGGA has published an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for ‘Batch Hot Dip Galvanizing of Steel Products to EN ISO 1461 – European Average’.
The EPD has been generated under the International EPD System® and is verified in accordance with ISO 14025:2010 and EN 15804.
Batch galvanizing is most often specified early in the design of steel components and structures with the coating application being sub-contracted much later in the supply process. For this reason, a sector-based EPD is the most informative approach for architects and designers when considering environmental information. Environmental burdens of the galvanized coating are separated from that of the steel plate – to demonstrate that the additional burden of providing lifelong protection for steel components is extremely small.
Statement on Existing EPD Status
The formal expiry date for the existing EGGA EPD was September 2021 and this was extended to October 2022 due to data collection delays during the COVID period. A new update of the EGGA EPD has since been delayed by the ongoing revision of the Product Category Rules for ‘Corrosion Protection of Fabricated Steel Products’ 2011:16 Version 2.2. However, the existing EPD remains available at the International EPD System (see link above).
The EGGA Market Development and Product Sustainability Committee considers that the technical basis of the published EPD remains representative as a sector average for the galvanizing of steel articles in Europe. We also note that any future update would likely reflect lower environmental burdens associated with (i) wider use of renewable energy across the sector (ii) lower embodied energy burdens associated with the availability of zinc metal with lower embodied carbon and (iii) other improvements in environmental performance. The use of the existing EPD is therefore a worse case pending the ongoing update. EGGA is not aware of a more representative and appropriate dataset for batch hot dip galvanizing in a wide range of applications and locations.
An updated EPD is scheduled alongside the revision of PCR 2011:16 during 2025. Meanwhile, we therefore recommend using the existing EPD data in building assessments until the update is completed according to a revised PCR
