Technoform launches its own calculator for reducing the product carbon footprint
New PCF calculator enables reliable greenhouse gas accounting for plastic profiles and thus calculation of the product carbon footprint (PCF)
Lohfelden, September 2, 2025 – Technoform Kunststoffprofile GmbH, a specialist in thermoplastic extrusion, has launched a product carbon footprint (PCF) calculator. This makes it possible to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of manufactured plastic profiles on a product-specific basis. The company is thus responding to increasing regulatory requirements such as the EU-wide CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and supporting customers in the sound decarbonization of their products. At the same time, the company is pursuing its own sustainability goals and those of its customers by using alternative, more resource-efficient materials.
“Today, companies have a greater responsibility than ever to reduce their ecological footprint,”
says Dr. Thorge Brünig, Managing Director of Technoform Kunststoffprofile GmbH. With the new PCF calculator, Technoform can provide standard-based data that enables customers from a wide range of industries to identify specific greenhouse gas savings potential.
“Our goal is to reduce emissions through individual calculations. By using recycled materials, redesign, or material development projects, we can reduce the product carbon footprint by up to 75 percent in the future,”
says Brünig.
Calculation based on international standards
The PCF calculator was specially designed for use in materials and product management and provides customers with transparency regarding material use and the associated climate impact as part of an individual consultation. It is based on recognized standards such as the GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard and ISO 14067.
With the help of location-specific process data, supplier data, and raw material-specific parameters, it enables product optimization and sound accounting through material adjustments and contour changes along the set accounting framework (cradle-to-gate).
Virgin material vs recycled material
The calculator takes into account different material variants - such as virgin material versus recycled material - and thus supports fact-based decisions in product development and optimization at an early stage. The calculator also provides valuable data for customers' sustainability reporting.
With the PCF calculator, Technoform offers a strategic solution: Technoform's individual consulting services are expanded to include an important ecological aspect. This allows the positive climate effect of adding recycled material to be quantified, particularly during the material selection phase of product development.
The calculator can be used for any plastic profile, as flexible calculations with different materials are possible. Companies can use the PCF of the plastic profiles and integrate it into their own PCF or CCF calculations.
Pilot project: PCF reduced by around 20% - Potential up to 75%
In a pilot project with our customer lasting several months, Technoform's team of experts succeeded in validating the calculator's potential: Through targeted material savings (–12%), redesign, and the integration of 10% regrind from recycled production scraps, the PCF of an existing plastic profile was reduced by around 20% – while maintaining high product quality. In addition, the customer's disposal costs were significantly reduced.
We see possible potentials up to 75%.
“A major advantage lies in the recyclability of our thermoplastic materials, which, unlike thermosets, can be remelted and returned to the process,”
explains Sustainability Manager Fabio Späth.
“Our customers' production waste can usually be returned to our extrusion process in the form of regrind – in line with the principles of the circular economy.”
says Dr. Thorge Brünig.
It's about carefully considered material selection, long-lasting product quality, and combining resource efficiency with economic success. This is exactly where our calculator comes in.