ISO standards

ISO standards 9 min

What does ISO 14034 prove about an environmental technology?

An ISO 14034 verification proves one thing, that a specific performance claim about an environmental technology held up when an independent verifier checked it under stated conditions. Below is who does what in that process, how it runs from application to statement, and where the result helps a producer.

Oskar Mortensen

· Oct 1, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 9 min

ISO 14004 and implementing an environmental management system

An environmental management system is only as good as the manual its builders had in front of them, and for most teams that manual is ISO 14004. Below is what the 2016 edition explains clause by clause, why it still points at the 2015 rulebook, and where a producer's EPR duties fit inside it.

Frederik Kiel

· Sep 29, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 9 min

ISO/TR 16218 and chemical recovery of packaging explained

Chemical recovery breaks used plastic packaging down into the chemicals it was made from, and ISO/TR 16218 is the 2013 technical report that describes those routes. Below is what the report covers, how it sits next to ISO 18604 and ISO/TR 17098, and whether the output counts as recycling under EU packaging law.

Stella Winther

· Sep 28, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 8 min

What does ISO 14046 require for a water footprint?

A water footprint under ISO 14046 has to be an impact result, not a count of litres, and most of them need a qualifier in front of the name as well. Below is what the 2014 standard actually requires, from the four phases of an assessment to the point where it stops and the labelling rules take over.

Frederik Kiel

· Sep 24, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 9 min

How does ISO/TS 14029 let one EPD count in two programmes?

An environmental product declaration verified under one programme does not automatically count under another. ISO/TS 14029 is the 2022 ISO technical specification that sets out how two EPD or footprint communication programmes formally recognise each other's work, so a declaration can be accepted elsewhere without being verified a second time.

Frederik Kiel

· Sep 23, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 9 min

ISO 15270 and the recovery and recycling of plastics waste

ISO 15270 is the document that names the routes plastics waste can take once it has been collected, and defines the words the industry uses to describe them. Below is what the 2008 edition actually covers, why its definition of recycling does not match the one in EU packaging law, and what changes when the five-part replacement series lands.

Stella Winther

· Sep 23, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 8 min

What is ISO 14031 and how does environmental performance evaluation work?

Environmental performance evaluation is the process ISO 14031 sets out for choosing indicators, collecting the data behind them and judging whether performance is actually improving. Below is what the 2021 edition covers, the indicator types it names, and why a producer's annual packaging return is already one of them.

Frederik Kiel

· Sep 22, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 9 min

How does ISO 14051 material flow cost accounting work?

ISO 14051 puts a price on the materials that leave a business as waste instead of as product, and in the standard's own worked example that price is nearly eight times the disposal bill. Published in 2011, it is the international framework for material flow cost accounting.

Frederik Kiel

· Sep 22, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 10 min

ISO 14006 and ecodesign explained

Ecodesign has been an ISO discipline since 2011 and an EU legal regime since 2024, and the two are not the same thing. This is what the 2020 edition of ISO 14006 covers, who it lands on, and where it deliberately stops.

Oskar Mortensen

· Sep 21, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 11 min

ISO 14068-1 and carbon neutrality claims explained

Calling a company or a product carbon neutral is a claim with an international standard behind it, and ISO 14068-1 is that standard. Below is what its 2023 edition actually requires, the order it makes you work in, why it is not the same thing as net zero, and what changes in September 2026.

Stella Winther

· Sep 16, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 10 min

ISO 14024 and Type I ecolabels explained

An ecolabel is only worth something if an independent body decided to award it. ISO 14024 is the standard that sets out how such a scheme has to be run, and its 2026 edition dropped the Type I name it was known by for 27 years.

Frederik Kiel

· Sep 11, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 8 min

ISO 14020 and environmental statements explained

The 2022 edition of ISO 14020 renamed the standard, retired the Type I and Type II labels everyone still uses, and added requirements the old version never had. Here is what it covers now and where it meets the EU rules on environmental claims.

Frederik Kiel

· Sep 11, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 12 min

ISO 18605 and energy recovery from packaging explained

Burning packaging only counts as recovery if the fire hands back more energy than it spends heating its own smoke and ash. ISO 18605 is the international standard that turns that into a test.

Oskar Mortensen

· Sep 4, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 11 min

ISO 59014 and the traceability of secondary materials explained

Recycled material is only as credible as the record behind it. ISO 59014, published in 2024, sets out how a recovery operation should be run and what it has to be able to show about the material leaving its gate.

Frederik Kiel

· Sep 3, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 12 min

ISO 18606 and compostable packaging explained

Organic recycling is the technical name for industrial composting, and ISO 18606 is the standard that decides which packaging may claim it. Here is what the 2013 edition tests, what it exempts, and where it stops short of the EU's own compostability rules.

Stella Winther

· Sep 2, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 9 min

ISO/TS 14027 and product category rules explained

Two environmental product declarations only mean something side by side if both were built on the same rules. ISO/TS 14027 is the 2017 technical specification that says how those rules are written, reviewed and retired.

Stella Winther

· Aug 28, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 8 min

ISO 59010 and circular business models explained

Going circular is rarely a material swap. It is a change to how a company earns, and ISO 59010, published in 2024, is the standard that guides an organisation through making that change with the partners it depends on.

Stella Winther

· Aug 27, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 9 min

How ISO/TR 18607 guides environmentally conscious packaging design

Published in October 2025, ISO/TR 18607 is ISO's guidance on designing packaging with less environmental impact without losing the function the packaging exists for. Most of the document is worked examples, which makes it the practical companion to a family of standards that say what to assess but not what an assessment looks like.

Oskar Mortensen

· Aug 21, 2026 Read post

ISO standards 10 min

What ISO 18602 requires for packaging optimization

Packaging can be too heavy and it can also be too light, and ISO 18602 is the standard that decides where the line falls. It gives a supplier a repeatable way to show a pack is already at the minimum that still does the job.

Oskar Mortensen

· Aug 20, 2026 Read post