Ejendals Launches Product Environmental Footprints (PEFs) to Drive Transparency and Sustainable Innovation

by introducing Product Environmental Footprints (PEF) for selected safety gloves and footwear. Beginning with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) calculations, the initiative provides transparent insights into the environmental impact for more than 110 safety products, including protective gloves, safety footwear and accessories. Consumers can find the footprint information on many of the company’s products, such as TEGERA© 457 gloves, on its website.

“Product Environmental Footprints help us better understand the impact of our products throughout their life cycle and identify opportunities for improvement. We’re adding a layer of transparency and using the data we gather to strengthen how we design and make safety gear in a responsible way that benefits both product quality and the environment,” says Céline Montanari, Product Sustainability, Ejendals.

Turning LCA insights into action

Sustainability terminology can be difficult to navigate, as different measurements capture different types of environmental impact. A Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) measures greenhouse gas emissions across a product’s lifecycle, while a Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) takes a broader approach by assessing additional factors such as resource use, water consumption, pollution, and ecosystem impacts. Insights gathered from PCFs and PEFs provide a more complete picture of a product’s environmental impact.

Ejendals is providing PCFs using a product’s LCA, an internationally recognized methodology for evaluating environmental impacts across a product’s life cycle. The company’s LCA work follows ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, which set global standards for how LCAs are conducted and reported.

Environmental footprints look at the cradle-to-grave cycle and assess environmental impacts from raw materials and manufacturing to transport and the end-of-life phase. By performing in-house analysis, the company can apply consistent methods, maintain data quality, and continuously refine its approach. Results are then used to identify where environmental impacts are concentrated and to evaluate alternatives in materials, design, and production that can reduce the company’s footprint.

Both environmental and carbon footprints can vary depending on methodology, system boundaries and data sources. The company therefore focuses on traceable, substantiated information intended to support decisions from primary and secondary sources. This approach avoids greenwashing and supports credible environmental communication as expectations for transparency and substantiation continue to evolve throughout Europe.

Using footprints to improve products

By making LCA details for individual products available on the website, consumers can see a snapshot of a product’s sustainability impact. Beyond reporting, the footprint results are also used to guide product improvements, including to:

• Evaluate and explore material and design alternatives
• Identify and reduce environmental hotspots
• Integrate environmental considerations into research and development
• Support customers with reliable product-level data

By integrating PCF and PEF insights into design and development processes, Ejendals expects to reduce environmental impact across the value chain, without compromising the quality of safety gear the company designs.

Next steps

Ejendals plans to expand PCFs to include PEF assessments over time by including advanced analysis into areas such as resource use, water impact, and circularity as data and methodologies continue to develop.

This work strengthens the company’s commitment to zero injuries to hands and feet by embedding deeper product knowledge into how solutions are designed and improved.

Additionally, the PEF initiative supports the company’s wider ambition to integrate environmental considerations into product development alongside safety, durability, and comfort. As a result, Ejendals strengthens how it measures, communicates and improves environmental performance, while continuing to focus on protection where it matters most.

Learn more: The Combined Product Environmental Report provides carbon footprint data and is available as a PDF on Ejendals’ Sustainability pages.