Highlights from the 3rd Eastern Partnership QI4GT Workshop
On 31 January 2024, the 3rd workshop took place online with about 150 participants, using pharmaceuticals, construction materials and electrotechnical products as examples. Experts explained the requirements of the European Green Deal for companies and highlighted the quality infrastructure (QI) services required to fulfil these requirements.
Dr Podleschny, Managing Director of the European Association for Panels and Profiles explained how the new requirements for sustainable products and processes are the result of multiple European regulatory initiatives. Companies must fulfil these requirements throughout the entire life cycle of products. In this respect, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), as defined in EN 15804, are an essential tool.
Similarly, Reiner Lehrer of the VDE Testing and Certification Institute explained sustainability requirements for manufacturing, using and recycling cables. He emphasized that cable manufacturers can only fully assess their environmental impact in cooperation with installers and users. Essential standards include EN 50693:2019-08 for the life cycle assessment of electronic and electrical products and systems and IEC 62125:2019-09 on environmental considerations specific to insulated power and control cables. In addition, IEC Technical Committee 20 is currently working with Europacable on environmental product declarations for insulated conductors, cables, flexible cords and their accessories (NWI TC20/Sec2097/CD).
Pharmacist Dr Christina Foerg-Wimmer explained the importance of the green transformation for the pharmaceutical sector. According to the World Economic Forum, the industry is responsible for 4.4% of global CO2 emissions and its growth is expected to triple by 2050. pharmaceutical production generates large amounts of waste and wastewater, with increasing antimicrobial resistance a particular concern. Therefore, the pharmaceutical industry must integrate environmental considerations into its Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
After that, the participants gathered in working groups to discuss the implications of the green transformation for developing QI in the EaP countries. The importance of an appropriate regulatory framework and the need to raise awareness among consumers and businesses were highlighted. The groups identified specific training and consultancy needs in sustainability management and labelling that PTB projects could support.
In the next part of the regional workshop, EaP QI institutions presented the first results of the 2023 call of the PTB EaP QI4GT Fund that aimed at discovering and supporting promising QI initiatives in EaP that contribute to the green transformation. The four QI4GT projects that were awarded funding focus on photovoltaic standards, organic production certification, validation of greenhouse gas emissions, and measurement of ambient air quality. They work to ensure the proper implementation of (EU) legislation in the environmental sector and the development of QI services tailored to the dynamically evolving market in the EaP countries. A common lesson learned is that addressing standardization or metrology alone is often insufficient, as the entire system must operate cohesively. PTB congratulated the three lead QI institutions, GAC, NBSM and AZSTAND, recognizing their efforts in navigating these innovative projects through close collaboration with other non-governmental institutions, resulting in significant accomplishments in recent months.
A new call for projects from the Eastern Partnership countries for the programme’s Green Transformation Fund was also launched. This call will remain open from 31 January to 30 April 2024. Detailed information, including access to Q&A and other updates related to the second QI4GT call for proposals, can be accessed on the PTB Eastern Partnership website: https://www.eastern-partnership.ptb.de/about-the-project/activities/ptb-fund-quality-infrastructure-for-green-transformation-qi4gt/
The lively participation in the regional workshop showed stakeholders’ interest in the quality infrastructure of the Eastern Partnership in green transformations. The PTB regional project received valuable suggestions for further tailored support. The regional dialogue will be continued with further events such as the PTB global exchange on quality infrastructure for photovoltaics:
https://candela-ptb.de/global-exchange-on-quality-infrastructure-for-photovoltaics/
QI4GT stands for Quality Infrastructure for Green Transformation.
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