A regulatory term referring to any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial.
Environmental impact is part of the formal vocabulary used in digital product passports, product sustainability information, durability, and ecodesign compliance. For this glossary, the key point is understanding how the source defines the term and where that definition sits within broader compliance or data requirements.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products
any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from a product during its life cycle;
Reference: Article 2, point 14
In practice, this term matters when companies collect, structure, verify, or communicate sustainability data within digital product passports, product sustainability information, durability, and ecodesign compliance.
For Minespider, environmental impact is not just descriptive language. It is a modeling term that affects how sustainability, emissions, lifecycle, or product information should be captured and compared.