Spunbond reinforcements for bituminous membranes made of ...

ENVIRONMENTAL
PRODUCT DECLARATION
Spunbond reinforcements
for bituminous membranes
made of recycled polyester
Rev. 0, June 2011
CPC 27922: Nonwovens
Certification Nr. S-P-00172
Date of approval 30.06.2011
PCR 2010:10, Vers. 1.0, 21.06.2010

Environmental
Product
Declaration
1. DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPANY AND OF THE PRODUCT
1.1 The Group
Freudenberg Politex is a multinational with its headquarters in Italy at Novedrate (Como). The
Group’s core business is the production of polyester nonwovens, made using both staple and
spunbonded technology.
The main market of the Group is the construction sector, where nonwovens of the Roofing
division are sold as reinforcement for bituminous membranes for roofs waterproofing. The
Construction Materials division includes a complete range of finished products for different
applications: thermal insulation, acoustic insulation, underfloor soundproofing, waterproofing,
reinforcement for walls and roads, underslating protection and geotextiles.
Completing the Group’s products portfolio are Voluminous Nonwovens used as padding in
the furniture and clothing industries.
The majority of Freudenberg Politex products are manufactured using recycled raw materials,
recovered and upgraded in-house, thanks to vertically integrated processes. The production of
polyester starts with the recycling of post-consumer PET bottles, which are sorted, washed and
ground to flakes. The flakes are then used in the production of fiber or directly in the spunbond
process.
Freudenberg Politex belongs to the Freudenberg Group (Weinheim, Germany), which
comprises 16 Business Groups operating independently on various markets all over the world.
1.2 The production sites
Freudenberg Politex, with an organizational structure capable of creating products to meet the
needs of diverse markets around the world, operates out of six production sites: three in Italy,
with two plants at Novedrate (Como) and one at Pisticci (Matera), one in France at Colmar, one
in Russia in Nizhniy Novgorod and one in the United States at Macon (Georgia). Completing
the organization of the Group are two trading companies in China at Shanghai and in Poland at
Lodz and a comprehensive sales network.
1.3 Responsibility and the Environment
Freudenberg Politex Group operations obtained the following certifications:
ISO 9001 – Quality Management System
ISO 14001 – Environmental Management System
OHSAS 18001 – Health and Safety Management System
In Italy the Group joined Responsible Care, the voluntary programme of the global chemical
industry, under which businesses commit themselves to the continuous improvement of
products, processes and behaviour in the areas of Safety, Health and the Environment, in
order to give a significant contribution to the sustainable development of industry, local
communities and society.
All companies in the Freudenberg Politex Group adopt Corporate Governance rules and
Guiding Principles (www.freudenbergpolitex.com), highlighting responsibility with regard to
People, the Environment and Safety in all fields of activity.
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Environmental
Product
Declaration
1.4 The product
Terbond ® is a range of polyester fiber nonwovens manufactured with spunbond technology,
available in numerous weights capable of meeting a wide range of technical requirements to
satisfy the different needs of global markets.
The fiber used is produced in-house by Freudenberg Politex through the recycling of postconsumer
PET bottles.
The EPD is based on Terbond ® family produced in Colmar (France) and Pisticci (Italy) taking
into account a weighted average of the production information of the two sites during the 2010.
The final application of Terbond ® nonwovens is the bituminous membrane, obtained from the
process of bitumen impregnation at the production sites of membrane manufactures and then
used for the waterproofing of roofs. For the LCA study of the finished product reference has to
be made to any analysis carried out by bituminous membranes manufacturers.
The different variations of finishing and of weight of Terbond ® products are aimed at satisfying
a wide range of technical requirements, in order to meet the demands of global markets:
Needlepunched spunbond nonwovens
Production: Colmar (France)
Terbond ® different types of weight and thickness:
Weight
Needlepunched and chemical bonded spunbond nonwovens
Production: Pisticci (Italy) and Colmar (France)
Needlepunched and thermal bonded spunbond nonwovens
Production: Colmar (France)
Needlepunched spunbond nonwovens reinforced with glass filaments
Production: Pisticci (Italy)
Terbond Terbond A Terbond TH Terbond R U.o.M.
from 150 to 300 from 50 to 250 from 100 to 250 g/m 2
from 120 to 270
Thickness from 1,00 to 1,50 from 0,60 to 0,85 from 0,50 to 1,00 from 0,70 to 1,30 mm
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Environmental
Product
Declaration
This EPD is based on the LCA study carried out on Terbond ® products with average weight of
150 g/m2:
Weight
Thickness
Tensile strength
at break
Elongation at break ISO 9073-3
Terbond 150 Terbond A 150 Terbond TH 150 Terbond R 150 U.o.M.
ISO 9073-1 150
150
ISO 9073-2 1,00
0,68 0,64
0,85
mm
ISO 9073-3
MD 58 50 43 50
CD 41 47 43 36
MD 30 52 30 25
CD 30 58 30 30
1.5 Composition of the product
Terbond ® : 79% recycled polyester 21% resins and additives
Terbond ® A: 45% recycled polyester 55% virgin polyester
Terbond ® TH: 39% recycled polyester 61% virgin polyester
Terbond ® R: 78% recycled polyester 18% resins and additives
4% glass filaments
2. ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE DECLARATION
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150
150
g/m 2
daN / 5 cm
The results represented below are based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study carried
out on the products Terbond ® , Terbond ® A, Terbond ® TH and Terbond ® R with the aim to
inform the public and the interested parties about the environmental performance of its
production process.
The methodology used follows the rules described in the standard ISO 14044:2006, in line with
the International EPD System.
The reasons of the LCA study arose from the need to have a precise processes accounting
and to highlight potential improvements that could be started in order to increase the
environmental, energetic and economic efficiency and effectiveness of the processes. In
addition the purpose was to quantify and to communicate the environmental advantages
deriving from the use of non virgin raw material.
2.1 The Evaluation Method
The assessment of environmental performance was carried out according to the PCR 2010:10
“Product Category Rules (PCR) for the assessment of the environmental performance of UN
CPC 27922, Nonwovens for different purposes other than clothing” and to the “General
Programme Instructions for Environmental Product Declaration”.
2.2 The Functional Unit
The functional unit is represented by 1 kg of Terbond ® family.
The environmental information is represented with surface unit 1 m 2 .
2.3 The System Boundaries
The life cycle of Terbond ® products includes Upstream, Core and Downstream processes (Fig.
1). The system boundary determines those unitary processes which have to be included in the
LCA study.
%

Environmental
Product
Declaration
Upstream Processes include:
· extraction and production of raw materials;
· manufacturing of semi-finished goods;
· manufacturing of additives (caustic soda, floating, surface-active, etc.);
· production processes for components and packaging (PE bags, labels, PE film);
· process of post-consumer PET bottles collection and selection;
· transport of post-consumer PET bottles from the selection plant to the factory;
· internal process of recycling of post-consumer PET bottles.
Core Processes include:
· transports: from the supply of semi-finished goods and of consumables to the conveyance to
landfill or waste recovery;
· internal transports;
· transport of post-consumer PET bottles from the selection plant to the factory;
· manufacturing processes for the production of Terbond ® products: spinning and web formation,
mechanical bonding (needling), thermal or chemical bonding, winding and storage;
· packaging of Terbond ® product family;
· consumption of water and energy.
Downstream Processes including distribution, use and end of life management, have been
considered from a qualitative point of view because of the impossibility to outline a realistic
reference scenario with appropriate data.
Refuses and waste water treatment are excluded from the system.
PET bottle
selection
Transport and
bottles storage
and loading
PET flakes
drying and
storage
PET flakes
crystallization
and drying
Terbond ® Terbond R
Glass
reinforcement
® R
Glass
reinforcement
Recycling or
disposal
Bottles collection
center
Bottles prewashing
PE floatation,
dewatering and
sieving
Extrusion,
spinning and
web forming
Terbond ® Terbond TH
Thermal bonding
® TH
Thermal bonding
Use for
waterproofing of
roofs
Upstream Processes
Core Processes
Detection of
foreign materials
Washing
Needling
Terbond ® Terbond A
Heat setting
® A
Heat setting
Rolls winding
and storage
Downstream Processes
Production of
bituminous
membranes
Production of
other materials
Bottles grinding
PE floatation and
flakes washing
Terbond ® Terbond ®
Chemical bonding
Transport to
membranes
manufacturers
External processes Recycling plant Spun production plant
Figure 1. Scheme of the production process of Terbond ® product family
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Environmental
Product
Declaration
2.4 Cut-off and allocation principles
The processes contributing for less than 1% of the total environmental impact for each impact
category have been omitted from the inventory. Where possible, the allocation is avoided or it
follows a procedure based on the mass balance of the output products (see Table 1).
2.5 Data Quality
Data refer to the year 2010 and were collected in Freudenberg Politex plant located in Colmar
(France) and Pisticci (Italy). The study was also based on the data from SimaPro ver. 7.2.3:
Ecoinvent 2.2.
The contribution of the other generic data to each impact category is below 10%.
Data concerning energy aspects refers to the energy mix of the French site in Colmar and the
production process for the electrical energy from palm oil in Pisticci.
The data collection was conducted in compliance with the two modalities contained in the ISO
14044:2006.
2.6 Environmental profile of the product
To have univocal environmental information and in order to support decisions about the use of
eco-sustainable materials, the impact categories have been analyzed in line with what
requested by the indications of the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and referred to
the production process illustrated in Figure 1. For the production of 1 kg Terbond ® the inflow
material (mainly PET bottles post-consumer) in the system goes through the bottles recycling
plant and the spun production department. Table 1 shows the environmental performance
relevant to the production of Terbond ® product family divided into information about natural
resources consumed (energetic and non).
Energy resources (used for energy
conversion purposes)
Material resources
Resources consumption
Renewable
Nonrenewable
Upstream Processes Core Processes Terbond
1 kg 1 kg
® TOTAL
1 kg
A TH R A TH R A TH R
Biomass g 38,33 18,05 19,42 183,13 621,31 9,36 10,51 1965,87 659,64 27,41 29,92 2149,00
Biomass MJ 0,65 0,31 0,37 3,11 10,53 0,16 0,14 33,31 11,18 0,46 0,51 36,42
Hydroelectric MJ 0,18 0,50 0,58 0,18 0,47 1,30 1,16 0,24 0,66 1,80 1,73 0,42
Wind MJ 0,01 0,06 0,07 0,02 0,01 0,02 0,02 0,01 0,02 0,08 0,09 0,03
Solar MJ 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00
Total MJ 0,84 0,87 1,01 3,31 11,01 1,48 1,31 33,56 11,86 2,35 2,33 36,87
Coal g 75,40 277,43 326,41 100,39 40,99 85,17 76,00 42,21 116,39 362,60 402,40 142,60
Oil g 105,43 138,16 156,03 107,53 47,43 14,42 18,14 130,49 152,86 152,58 174,16 238,02
Uranium g 0,00 0,01 21,59 0,00 0,02 0,06 0,05 0,00 0,02 0,06 21,64 0,01
Gas g 124,31 120,16 164,43 195,22 36,31 20,30 15,90 208,20 160,61 140,46 180,33 403,42
Total g 305,14 535,77 668,46 403,14 124,75 119,95 110,08 380,90 429,89 655,71 778,54 784,04
Coal MJ 1,13 3,99 4,71 1,45 0,70 1,59 1,42 0,60 1,83 5,58 6,14 2,05
Oil MJ 8,92 19,97 21,87 8,64 1,04 0,66 0,83 2,26 9,96 20,64 22,70 10,90
Uranium MJ 2,68 5,14 5,52 1,59 9,85 31,02 27,61 1,33 12,53 36,17 33,13 2,92
Gas MJ 12,82 17,13 20,39 15,88 5,16 1,10 0,86 5,60 17,99 18,23 21,25 21,48
Total MJ 25,55 46,24 52,50 27,56 16,76 34,37 30,72 9,79 42,31 80,61 83,22 37,35
thereof electricity consumption kWh - - - - 0,99 2,19 1,90 2,30 0,99 2,19 1,90 2,30
PET waste g 762,69 412,83 366,96 785,29 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 762,69 412,83 366,96 785,29
Renewable Other waste g 400,00 200,00 100,00 300,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 400,00 200,00 100,00 300,00
Total g 1162,69 612,83 466,96 1085,29 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 1162,69 612,83 466,96 1085,29
Gravel g 32,38 138,99 160,75 76,83 35,64 24,62 22,02 112,46 68,02 163,61 182,77 189,30
Clay g 4,61 28,21 31,54 30,78 1,50 1,40 1,25 4,09 6,11 29,61 32,79 34,87
Nonrenewable
Calcite
Iron
Oil
g
g
g
15,99
2,10
89,76
24,37
8,95
297,97
23,96
10,37
321,49
37,43
3,89
77,62
6,12
4,79
0,00
4,20
2,02
0,00
3,77
1,82
0,00
9,25
10,13
0,00
22,11
6,89
89,76
28,57
10,97
297,97
27,72
12,19
321,49
46,68
14,02
77,62
Natural gas g 116,57 201,12 217,86 100,80 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 116,57 201,12 217,86 100,80
Total g 261,42 699,60 765,96 327,35 48,05 32,24 28,86 135,94 309,47 731,84 794,83 463,28
Water
kg 2,71 0,99 0,79 6,34 4,24 1,80 1,90 8,60 6,94 2,79 2,69 14,94
Table 1. Total consumption of resources associated to the production of Terbond ® products
Air and water emissions are presented in an aggregated way by providing the indicators
requested by the International EPD System.
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Environmental
Product
Declaration
The results of the characterization of the impacts are shown in the following Table 2.
Impact category
Global warming potential
(GWP100)
Ozone depletion
Photochemical oxidation
Acidification
Eutrophication
Unit of measure
Upstream Processes
1 kg
Core Processes
A TH R A TH R A TH R
kg CO2eq 1,10 1,64 1,90 1,38 0,64 0,31 0,28 1,15 1,74 1,94 2,18 2,52
mg CFC11eq 0,06 0,11 0,13 0,12 0,07 0,02 0,02 0,09 0,13 0,13 0,15 0,20
g C2H4 eq 1,07 1,62 1,84 1,31 0,96 0,13 0,14 2,62 2,03 1,74 1,98 3,93
g SO2 eq 2,62 5,21 5,83 3,82 2,03 1,45 1,64 4,61 4,65 6,66 7,47 8,43
--g
PO4 eq 0,73 2,03 2,32 1,14 0,95 0,54 0,51 2,40 1,68 2,56 2,83 3,54
1 kg
Terbond ® TOTAL
Table 2. Potential contribution to the main environmental effects for the production of Terbond ®
products
Terbond ® nonwovens are distributed all over the world and the lifecycle of a bituminous
membrane, installed on a roof, is estimated to be over 20 years, average period of guarantee
provided by manufacturers of bituminous membranes.
In some cases the old damaged roofs are repaired with new additional layers, therefore the
lifecycle of the membrane is prolonged and consequently also that of the nonwoven. In other
cases the old roof is completely removed and the waste material is recovered mainly sending it
to energy valorisation or with the reuse in road applications.
In the case of energy valorisation, each kilo of finished product has a calorific value (feedstock
energy) of about 33 MJ which can be converted into useful energy. This feedstock energy is
included in the energy from waste present in recycled PET bottles.
The use of recycled raw material for the production of nonwovens allows an upstream energy
saving. Terbond ® products fit in at the end of a virtuous cycle which increases the value and
concretises the activities of the recycling chain and the efforts of citizens in sorting waste.
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1 kg

Environmental
Product
Declaration
3. OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
In the description of the environmental impacts of a product it is important to take into
consideration the waste generation. For what concerns Terbond ® products, Table 3 shows the
total waste generated in the different processes.
Type of waste
Non hazardous (g)
Hazardous (g)
Water (g)
Recycling or
valorization
Upstream Processes
1 kg
Core Processes
Terbond ® TOTAL
A TH R A TH R A TH R
177,40 59,43 48,02 321,07 65,01 32,60 32,78 120,59 242,41 92,03 80,80 441,66
Landfill 163,03 133,74 106,52 4,64 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 163,03 133,74 106,52 4,64
1 kg
44,40 0,05 0,10 38,60 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 44,40 0,05 0,10 38,60
3467,80 1350,00 1075,30 7617,50 3838,00 1790,00 1893,30 7507,50 7305,80 3140,00 2968,60 15125,00
Table 3. Total production of hazardous and non hazardous waste generated for the production of
Terbond ® products
Freudenberg Politex committed itself in a policy aimed at the valorisation of waste and currently
generates co-products, such as PE flakes, PET dust and other scraps which are either re-used
in the production process or put on the market to be recycled or valorised by third parties.
Coproducts (kg)
Terbond ®
Terbond ® A
Terbond ® TH
Edge trims 0,08
0,10
0,10
0,06
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1 kg
Terbond ® R
Membranes manufacturers can easily make reference to it when calculating the total Carbon
Footprint of the finished bituminous roofing membranes using Terbond ® reinforcements.
As an indication, the table 4 here below represents the Carbon Footprint of different weights
of Terbond ® products per surface unit (1 m 2 ).
Terbond ®
150 170 180 230 250 300 g/m 2
Global warming potential (GWP100) 0,26 0,29 0,31 0,39 0,43 0,51 kgCO2eq/m 2
Terbond ® A 50 110 130 150 160 230 g/m 2
Global warming potential (GWP100) 0,10 0,21 0,25 0,29 0,30 0,44 kgCO2eq/m 2
Terbond ® TH 110 150 160 180 200 230 g/m 2
Global warming potential (GWP100) 0,24 0,33 0,35 0,40 0,44 0,51 kgCO2eq/m 2
Terbond ® R 150 170 180 230 250 300 g/m 2
Global warming potential (GWP100) 0,38 0,43 0,45 0,58 0,63 0,75 kgCO2eq/m 2
Table 4. Global warming potential for different weights for m 2 of Terbond ® products
Total energy (direct, indirect and feedstock) for the production of 1 kg of Terbond ® product
family is the following:
Terbond ® : 91,86 MJ Terbond ® TH: 102,00 MJ
Terbond ® A: 103,60 MJ Terbond ® R: 112,60 MJ

Environmental
Product
Declaration
4. INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION AND THE VERIFIER
Contacts
Politex s.a.s di Freudenberg Politex S.r.l.
Strada Provinciale Novedratese 17/a, 22060 Novedrate (CO), Italy
Ing. Federico Pallini, Business Director, e-mail marketing@politex.com, phone. +39 031 793
111, fax: +39 031 793 202. Web: www.freudenbergpolitex.com
For further information
Further information about The Freudenberg Politex Group and the product Terbond ® are
available on the web http://www.freudenbergpolitex.com.
Further information about International EPD ® system is available on the web
www.environdec.com.
Present EPD and the PCR (PCR 2010:10 Product Category Rules (PCR) for the assessment
of the environmental performance of UN CPC 27922: Nonwovens for different purposes other
than clothing) are available on the internet site of the Swedish Environmental Management
Council (www.environdec.com).
EPD within the same product category but from different programmes may not be comparable.
The LCA study and the present EPD have been issued with the technical scientific support of
the Department of Environmental Engineering and Physics (DIFA) of the University of
Basilicata Matera (Italy), www.difa.unibas.it. Research team: Dr. Ing. Silvana Kühtz and Ing.
Francesca Intini, Phone: +39 320 4223217.
Document valid until 30.06.2014.
Independent verification of the
declaration and data, according to
ISO 14025:
� Internal
� External
� EPD process certification
RINA Services S.p.A.
Via Corsica 12, 16128 Genova, Italia
Tel. +39 010 53851, fax +39 010 5351000, web www.rina.org
SWEDAC Accreditation Reg. n.: 1812
ACCREDIA Accreditation Reg. n.: 001H
PCR revision made by: Freudenberg Politex Group
PCR moderator appointed:
Massimo Migliavacca, mmigliavacca@politex.it
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Environmental
Product
Declaration
5. REFERENCES
[1] Department of Environmental Engineering and Physics of the Univerisity of Basilicata,
(2011), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) applied for the Terbond ® product family, rev. 0,
June 2011, www.difa.unibas.it.
[2] IEC (2008), General Programme Instructions for Environmental Product Declarations,
EPD. The International EPD Corporation. Document version 1.0 dated 2008-02-29.
Available at www.environdec.com.
[3] PCR 2010:10 Product Category Rules (PCR) for the assessment of the environmental
performance of UN CPC 27922, nonwovens for different purposes other than clothing,
and the declaration of this performance by an EPD, 2010-06-21. www.environdec.com
[4] IEC (2008), Supporting Annexes for Environmental Product Declarations, EPD. The
International EPD Corporation. Document version 1.0 dated 2008-02-29. Available at
www.environdec.com.
[5] ISO 14040:2006, Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Principles and
framework.
[6] ISO 14044:2006, Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements
and guidelines.
[7] ISO 14025:2006 Type III – Environmental labels and declarations – Type III
environmental declaration – Principles and procedures.
[8] Publications on International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.
6. GLOSSARY
The Global Warming Potential (GWP100) is a measure of the greenhouse effect and it
indicates the ratio between the warming caused by a certain type of greenhouse gas in a
period of 100 years and the warming caused by the same mass of carbon dioxide (whose
GWP is by definition 1) in the same period. The GWP is measured in kgCO2eq.
The stratospheric Ozone Depletion Potential is the indicator of the gradual degradation of the
stratosphere ozone layer, referring to the presence in the atmosphere of a number of chemical
compounds attacking ozone. The substance used as comparison to evaluate the effect of the
other substances is CFC-11 (chlorofluorocarbons), therefore CFC-11 eq.
Acidification is a phenomenon in which atmospheric precipitations have a lower pH
(measuring the acidity of water) than normal, causing damages to forests and cultivated crops,
as well as to aquatic ecosystems and objects. It is measured with the factor of Acidification
Potential (AP) estimated for each substance in terms of SO2 eq and in terms of ions of H +
moles eq.
Photochemical ozone formation is the production of compounds which as a result of the
effects of light may encourage an oxidisation reaction leading to the production of ozone in the
troposphere. The indicator is the Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (POCP), including
mainly VOC (volatile organic compounds) and is expressed as grams of equivalent ethylene (g
C2H4eq).
The Eutrophication is the excessive growth of aquatic plant organisms, due to the presence in
the water ecosystem of excessive quantities of nourishing substances like nitrogen,
phosphorus or sulphur from either natural or anthropic sources (fertilizers, some types of
detergents, civil or industrial wastes) and the consequent degradation of the environment,
becoming asphyxiated. The indicator is the Eutrophication Potential (EP) and is expressed in
--terms
of impoverishment in PO4 (phosphate) and O2 eq.
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