CONTENTS Consulting Activities Product Sustainability Corporate Sustainability International Scene Calendar and Outlook Newsletter as PDF-Download

Dear reader, Nine years of successful joint venture between EITI and PE INTERNATIONAL GmbH are terminated and PE Asia is now driven by PE INTERNATIONAL solely. PE Asia Corporation, located in Shinagawa, Tokyo, serves a broad range of industries in Japan with extended services in the field of sustainability such as Life Cycle Analysis, eco-design, technology benchmarking, eco-efficiency analyses as well as software solutions for both product and corporate sustainability. A main focus will be the development of the fast growing Carbon Footprint Market in Japan which it continuously gaining momentum. This issue provides insight into the rapidly growing sustainability awareness and activities in the Asian market, including energy efficiency measurement in Chinese industry and reporting of sustainability indicators to Indonesian authorities. Best regards from Tokyo, Yukiyoshi Hatori Representative Director PE Asia

to top Life cycle boom in the USA The increasing interest in the US in life cycle related issues and LCA in particular is not only based on the WalMart effect. A clear indication is that various companies from different industry sectors which are not directly involved with WalMart, or retailing, are getting more and more involved with LCA. PE Americas is currently working with companies from the buildings and construction sector, e.g. Knauf Insulation and ThyssenKrupp Elevator, food sector, e.g. Kraft and Starbucks, automotive industry, e.g. Chrysler and GM, carpet and building materials producing companies like Interface and Shaw and Armstrong, and industrial cleaning and consumer product sector like SC Johnson and Johnson Diversey. more Indonesia: CSR becomes mandatory By Ali Darwin Executive Director, National Centre for Sustainability Reporting, Indonesia The promulgation of new legislation requiring Indonesian companies to participate in mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs has been surrounded by considerable controversy. more LCA & Energy Benchmarking report released In Paris, Marie-Solange Pollard, Secretary General of the Int. Chromium Development Association (ICDA) released PEI’s LCA and energy benchmark report on Ferrochrome to senior executives of all member companies. The report covers all benefits in relation to energy reduction and the environmental impact of Chromium products over their Life Cycle. An update of the energy benchmark and LCA study in the ferro­chro­me industry is planned for next year. More: j.gediga@pe-international.com ...NEWS....... The European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) releases their final report on Integrated Product Policy (IPP). IPP was implemented with an aim to develop practical tools to assess and encourage the improvement of the environmental performance of products and services in all aspects of the life cycle. The report is available at www.Eurofer.be and www.pe-international.com. For more information: h.florin@pe-international.com ...NEWS....... What are the environmental impacts of annual energy crops in crop rotations or the production of perennial energy crops compared to conventional food crops? Funded by Badenova AG, a joint research project addressing power and heat production from agricultural biomass and its implications on agriculture and the environment answers these questions. The final report has now been released. See: http://www.pe-international.com/pe-international/company/downloads/ or contact s.deimling@pe-international.com

to top Client statement “Having well-established experience in Life Cycle Assessment and Life-Cycle-based tools, some years ago we welcomed with pleasure GaBi software as one of our working instruments because of its innovative and useful features. Since then we have been using it with much satisfaction, both in our research activities and as a valid teaching aid for the students of our Master program in Industrial Ecology.” Professor Andrea Raggi, Head of the Master’s Program in Industrial Ecology, University “G. d’Annunzio”, Pescara, Italy New Release: GaBi lite – the easy way to LCA The importance of Life Cycle Assessment in product development is intensifying. An increasing sensitivity to environmental questions and economic efficiency is setting the bar very high. GaBi lite is a software that meets these challenges and offers a simple way to calculate life cycle results in order to make LCA easier. Using pre-defined paths, it is ­application-oriented, clearly laid out and therefore ideal for beginners to conduct individual or comparative LCAs of products or processes at a basic level. more

to top CSR communication continues to evolve!? This year’s series of annual CSR reports show a trend to move on from “complete” reports to more focussed reports. Companies are reacting to the growing feeling that the reporting must focus on the most salient aspects, and that the sustainability message itself should not be buried under an enormous amount of information. At the Corporate Responsibility Reporting & Communications Conference in London last October, experts such as Paul Scott, Director of CorporateRegister, predicted this trend to continue. They see a combined form of reporting, consisting of a shorter, readable report and backup documentation with as much as 1000 (web) pages. more ...NEWS....... Wuhan Iron and Steel Company (WISCO), one of the largest Chinese steel producers, ordered SoFi software to generate sustainability reports and for monitoring energy efficiency, carbon footprints and major air pollutants. To fulfil the requirements of the Chinese market, SoFi will be available in Chinese language. For more information: j.gediga@pe-international.com

to top Skilled LCA practitioners wanted – The Australian Sustainability Scene By Greg Peters, Centre for Water and Waste Technology (CWWT) The sun shines on the Australian sustainability industry, like the Australian economy as a whole, and a period of rapid intensification is underway. Fuelled by accelerating demand for natural resource products in China and India, the economy is growing as fast as structural capacity constraints allow. Unemployment is at an astonishingly low 4.2% (not seen since 1974) but government investment in higher education has failed to match economic growth over the last decade. more Zinc for Life ‘Zinc for Life’ is a program of the International Zinc Association, laun­­ched in 2006. Its main goal is to position zinc as a material of environmental choice for engineers and architects, by providing sound scientific information about the sustainability performance of zinc products. One aspect of the program analyzes sector-specific requirements in zinc consuming industries and other key stakeholders, and establishes appropriate outreach and communication strategies to address these needs. Another aspect examines the LCA methodology with respect to zinc interests, contributes to the methodology development, and provides life cycle data on zinc and zinc products. Five Winds International has been commissioned to operate the ‘Zinc for Life’ program on behalf of and in collaboration with IZA and is working in partnership with PE INTERNATIONAL. More information: i.mersiowsky@fivewinds.com

to top Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency May 7 to 9, 2008 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands About a thousand international participants are expected in Amsterdam to join an excellent opportunity for global sustainability networking. The spotlight of the conference will be on sustainability reports users: • hear the results of the GRI Readers’ Choice Survey, cutting edge research on the sustainability readers’ views on sustainability reporting today; • find out which sustainability reports have won a GRI Readers’ Choice Award; • learn from global leaders about the latest developments in the debates surrounding sustainability and reporting; and • share your sustainability reporting experiences with a diverse array of global participants. http://www.globalreporting.org/NewsEventsPress/Conference2008/ SETAC Europe 18th Annual Meeting May 25 to 29, 2008 - Warsaw, Poland The SETAC Annual Meeting will focus on scientific and applied issues of different stressors in the present World. Carbon Footprinting (CF) of products and services is currently a booming subject in industry, environmental policy, and regulating organisations. A special session on CF will bring together key stakeholders to identify major methodological issues & solutions and review approaches to harmonisation, including presentation of some case studies. www.setac.eu/warsaw 4th Forum Envicomm May 26 to 27, 2008 - Stuttgart, Germany This forum on environmental issues, sustainability and CSR brings together representatives from politics, media and NGOs with decision makers and communicators from German companies. This year the conference is amended by a project and trade exhibition. http://www.envicomm.org/EC08/ec08_Will.html Consense - International Congress and Exhibition on Sustainable Building June 17 to 18, 2008 - Stuttgart, Germany Take advantage of Consense to find out how sustainable building can be realized along the entire value chain. The congress program will be dedicated to: • sustainable building in practice • sustainable building as an export opportunity • perspectives for the real estate sector • the new DGNB quality label for sustainable buildings • Excursions round off the program. The Consense Congress is a carbon neutral event. http://www.messe-stuttgart.de/consense http://www.dgnb.de ›› Fairs ›› Events ›› Dates 2008 In the table you find up to date information, when and where we and the employees of our cooperation partners are present on exhibitions, conferences, etc. Make use of the possibility to meet us there and arrange an appointment. Our contributions to the events are indicated by an "X". Abbreviations: › P = Presentation › W = Workshop › B = Booth Enlarge Image