“The EPD certification gave us a tool to quantify our environmental impact and communicate it clearly to clients.”
Jan Kowalski, Sustainability Director
The Challenge
Meeting growing requirements from public procurement clients for verified environmental data on corrugated steel pipes.
The Solution
Commissioned a full cradle-to-gate LCA and EPD under EN 15804+A2:2019, verified and published on EPDportal.org.
The Result
Secured three major infrastructure contracts worth €4.2M citing the EPD as a decisive factor in tender evaluation.
Steel infrastructure is a long-cycle business. A corrugated steel pipe installed today may still be in service in 2080. The question of environmental footprint is not hypothetical — it is embedded in the asset from the moment it leaves the factory.
What the LCA revealed
The Life Cycle Assessment surfaced what the production team already suspected: the dominant environmental hotspot is upstream, in steelmaking. The manufacturing process at ViaCon is relatively lean. Having those numbers independently verified made it possible to have a different kind of conversation with clients and procurement officers.
The EPD does not change the product. It changes how clients see it — and whether they can use it at all on regulated projects.
- GWP declared — Global Warming Potential per tonne, from raw material extraction through production and transport to site
- Independent review — conducted by a qualified LCA practitioner with no affiliation to ViaCon or to EPD Polska
- Publicly registered — EPD number assigned, declaration published on epdportal.org and the Polish EPD register
The EPD is now a standard part of every international tender submission. It does not replace the product. It explains it.