ISO TC207 (Environmental Management) is the parent Technical Committee that oversees standardisation in life cycle assessment (TC207/SC5), along with environmental labelling (TC207/SC3), greenhouse gas management (TC207/SC7), environmental management systems (TC207/SC1) and other related activities.
Recently, TC207 formed an Adhoc Group on the subject of circular economy. The Adhoc Group is assessing the contribution of existing environmental management standards to supporting the development of a circular economy as well as any needs for additional standardisation work.
Existing TC207 documents that can support aspects of the circular economy include those on LCA (e.g. ISO14040, 14044, 14046, 14067, 14072), eco-efficiency (14045), material flow cost accounting (e.g. 14051, 14052), eco-design (14062) and environmental management systems (14001). However, an overarching framework for circular economy and guidance on how to apply these documents in an integrated fashion are among the potential gaps.
The Adhoc Group will be reporting back to TC207 in November. Contact Brad Ridoutt for further information or to share ideas.