OREANDA-NEWS. Alstom Grid has created the Eco Label as part of its Eco Design approach within its Clean Grid Programme. Eco label identifies low-impact products that present either a truly significant improvement in environmental performance or a major innovative breakthrough in that domain. To date, fourteen products, covering high voltage air or gas insulated switchgear and power transformer, have been awarded with Alstom Grid’s Eco Label.

Alstom’s Clean Grid Programme is an initiative to minimise the environmental footprint and environmental impact of transmission and distribution products, whilst contributing towards environmentally friendly grids. Eco-design contributes to this programme by focusing on integrating the environmental criteria in the process of designing or re-designing a product. Alstom Grid’s Eco Design process has existed for over 10 years and is built upon the IEC 62430 standard. 

Eco label was created as a means to provide customers the opportunity to select products, solutions and services that have been developed with a particular focus on sustainability to meet new environmental challenges. These products must demonstrate a significant performance improvement without increasing CO2 generation or energy use, in at least one of the following areas:

•           economy of resources;
•           low SF6 emission;
•           energy efficiency;
•           limitation of environmental risks;
•           noise reduction;
•           space saving;
•           recyclability. 

Products that have been awarded the Alstom Grid Eco Label have met or surpassed the requirements of all of European quality, safety and environmental standards, such as the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) and Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). In addition, a full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is conducted, resulting in the publication of a Product Environmental Performance (PEP) report. 

The Alstom Grid Eco Label is fully compliant with the ISO 14021 Type II standard for environmental self-rating labels in the industrial and private sector. This means that when a product is awarded with the Alstom Grid Eco Label, it is done using verifiable, substantiated and accurate information which is neither misleading nor likely to result in misinterpretation. In addition to that, all products carrying the Alstom Grid Eco Label are manufactured in plants that are ISO-14001 certified, complete with a full LCA and PEP report.