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Create a Product Circularity Data Sheet
Create a Product Circularity Data Sheet

A PCDS is used to establish how circular a product is and inform about the circular path a product is designed or manufactured for.

Joe Marino avatar
Written by Joe Marino
Updated over a week ago

What is a Product Circularity Data Sheet?

A Product Circularity Data Sheet or PCDS is verifiable data that is utilized by suppliers and manufacturers to share information about how "circular" their product is. What does it mean to be "circular?" While a linear supply chain describes a straight path from the sourcing of raw materials to production and disposal, a circular supply chain includes recycling raw materials back into the manufacturing operation. The goal of circular supply chains is to eliminate waste and reduce the carbon footprint of the product.

Development of the PCDS Format

In order for a circular economy to produce continuous material loops, there needed to be standard format for data to be recorded and shared throughout the process. The Circularity Dataset Initiative addresses this issue by supplying a standardized format for companies to utilize when presenting circularity data about their products. The Ministry of the Economy of Luxembourg launched the PCDS format and partners with 3E Exchange so users can store and export this data about their products. If you would like to know more about the history of this process, click here.

What Information is Included in a PCDS?

The PCDS is a three-fold system that includes a data template, a third-party verification process, and a standardized data exchange protocol system. 3E Exchange provides users with an easy way to fill out the PCDS template and export it from their product library.

The data template has 5 major sections within it that touch upon the key characteristics of product circularity.

  1. General Information

  2. Composition Data

    1. >75-90% post-consumer recycled content by weight

    2. Does not contain REACH Candidate List SVHCs above 0.1% by weight

  3. Designed for Better Use

    1. Produce can be maintained/repaired by untrained personnel at location of product use

  4. Designed for Disassembly

    1. Designed to be installed and demounted using reversible connectors

  5. Designed for Re-Use

    1. Re-use or with minimal modification

    2. Composting in home composter

Where to Find this on 3E Exchange?

To create a PCDS using 3E Exchange, go to MY PRODUCTS or MY MATERIALS on the left-hand toolbar and select any product or material that you would like to create a PCDS for.

Next, within the product record, click on the CIRCULARITY tab on the middle toolbar. From here, you will be able to toggle to the PRODUCT CIRCULARITY DATA SHEET section of the CIRCULARITY tab to input your product data.

In this section, you will see the following 3 sections to fill out:

  1. Section 1 - Product and Company Identification

    1. Product Identifiers

    2. Manufacturer Information

    3. Product Site Information

    4. PCDS Issuance

    5. PCDS Revision

  2. Section 2- Composition/Information on Product Constituents

    1. Chemical Threshold

    2. Product Composition Disclosure

    3. Chemical Composition

    4. Hazard Statements

    5. Recycled Content

    6. Sourcing Statements

  3. Section 3- Design for Better Use

    1. Demounting

    2. Disassembling

    3. Dismantling

  4. Design for Re-use

    1. Circularity Pathways

You will notice that some fields are automatically calculated by BOM data existing in 3E Exchange. For example:

After you've filled out this information, you can go to REPORT > CIRCULARITY > Product Circularity Data Sheet to generate a formal PCDS.

3E Exchange will generate a report in the system that you can review that will look similar to this:

You can click Edit BOM or Edit PCDS Data by pressing those buttons at the top of this screen. You can press EXPORT REPORT at the top of the screen to generate a PDF of the report.

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