SKZ Expands Expertise in Environmental Declarations with a New Project Group
The SKZ Plastics Center is further expanding its commitment to sustainability in response to growing regulatory requirements in the construction industry. As part of this effort, the SKZ has established a new project group focused on “environmental declarations” and is strategically aligning its business operations with its future role as a notified validation body.
Johannes Schwaiger, the new head of the “Environmental Declarations” project group. (Photo: Luca Hoffmannbeck, SKZ)
Seeking accreditation as a validation body in accordance with DIN EN ISO/IEC 17029
For several years now, SKZ has been assisting companies in assessing construction and plastic products throughout their entire life cycle. This work is based on various norms and standards, such as EN 15804 and DIN EN ISO 14040/44. The SKZ has extensive experience in determining standards-compliant environmental indicators, particularly for plastic products.
New Requirements Under the EU Construction Products Regulation
With the EU Construction Products Regulation (CPR), which came into force on January 8, 2026, the requirements for the sustainability assessment of construction products have increased significantly. In the future, mandatory environmental and sustainability information will be required in Declarations of Conformity of Performance (DoCP). For individual products, these requirements will apply as soon as the respective product standards or European Assessment Documents (EAD) are harmonized—a process currently being advanced at the European level.
New Requirements for Manufacturers Regarding Environmental Indicators
A key change: Manufacturers must have their environmental indicators validated by independent, notified validation bodies (AVS 3+ assessment system). Against this backdrop, the SKZ has decided to expand its business scope and seek accreditation as a validation body for environmental information. The goal is to be designated as a notified validation body in accordance with the new Construction Products Regulation.
New project group pools expertise
To implement this initiative, the SKZ has established the new “Environmental Declarations” project group under the leadership of Johannes Schwaiger. The group pools existing expertise and creates the organizational framework for future validation activities.
“With the planned accreditation, we aim to expand our expertise in a targeted manner and offer the industry independent and reliable verification of environmental information in the future,” explains Johannes Schwaiger, Group Leader for Environmental Declarations at SKZ.
Schwaiger brings extensive professional experience to his new role: He studied functional materials at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg and subsequently spent six years working in materials development at the Fraunhofer Society. For over four years, he has been working at SKZ in the field of sustainability and circular economy, where he conducts life cycle assessment studies for industry and research projects, with a particular focus on the preparation of EPDs.
