A New PCR dedicated to Screened Soil
Sara Santambrogio, PR & Communications manager di Gruppo Valagussa
The Valagussa Group is an international network of companies operating with different brands across distinct yet contiguous sectors: from construction to quarrying, from environmental remediation to topsoil sales, and from engineering to interior design.
The Valagussa Ambiente division has decided to undertake the development of a new PCR dedicated to screened soil. In this regard, we interviewed Sara Santambrogio, PR & Communications Manager of the Valagussa Group.
Valagussa has decided to undertake the development of a new PCR dedicated to screened soil. What market or industry needs prompted you to support this initiative, and why do you consider it important to define specific product category rules for this material?
The initiative is being managed by Valagussa Ambiente Srl, a Valagussa Group company specialized in providing advanced environmental services, including waste management and remediation activities.
The decision to develop a new PCR dedicated to screened soil stems from the need to respond in a structured manner to the market’s growing focus on traceability, qualification, and environmental reporting of materials.
In this context, developing the PCR represents a preparatory step for the subsequent drafting of EPDs , which are increasingly requested tools to guarantee transparency and comparability of products environmental performance.
Therefore, the main objective is to define specific category rules for screened soil in order to create shared and shareable standards capable of ensuring methodological consistency and greater clarity in evaluation criteria within the sector.
The new PCR concerns a product obtained from the recycling of construction waste, thus fitting fully into the logic of the circular economy. In your opinion, how important is it to have a tool like the PCR to objectively value the environmental benefits deriving from material recovery and to foster greater market trust in recycled materials?
The PCR plays a fundamental role precisely because it allows the environmental benefits deriving from the recovery and reuse of materials—in this case, coming from construction waste—to be framed objectively and transparently.
Within the context of the circular economy, having a structured tool like a PCR means being able to define clear and shared methodological criteria for assessing the environmental performance of materials, reducing margins for subjective interpretation and ensuring greater data comparability.
This aspect is particularly relevant for fostering market trust in recycled materials, which often require recognized and verifiable tools to be fully valued.
In this sense, the PCR represents a solid and recognized foundation on which to subsequently build EPDs, thereby helping to strengthen the environmental credibility of the sector and promote truly sustainable and measurable practices.
From your point of view, what are currently the main critical challenges in evaluating and communicating the environmental performance of this type of product, and how can a shared PCR help make environmental data more homogeneous and comparable?
From our perspective, one of the main critical challenges in evaluating and communicating the environmental performance of this type of product concerns the lack of homogeneous and shared criteria for data collection and processing. In the absence of common references, calculation methods and the representation of environmental performance can vary significantly, making it difficult to compare products and leading to potentially inconsistent interpretations.
Added to this is the intrinsic complexity of recovered materials, which can exhibit variable characteristics depending on their origin and treatment processes, making the standardization of assessments even more delicate.
In this context, a shared PCR represents an essential tool for defining clear and unique rules at the category level, establishing common methodologies for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and environmental data reporting.
This not only makes results more homogeneous and comparable but also increases the transparency and credibility of the information communicated to the market, fostering greater trust in recycled materials and their environmental performance.
For a project like this, what added value does the collaboration with EPDItaly as the Program Operator represent, both in terms of the credibility of the process and the dissemination and recognition of the PCR and future EPDs at a national and international level?
The collaboration with EPDItaly as the Program Operator represents significant added value, both in terms of the credibility of the process and the recognition of the results.
Indeed, their role guarantees compliance with shared methodological standards that are recognized nationally and internationally, reinforcing the reliability of the PCR and the subsequent EPDs.
At the same time, it helps give greater visibility and dissemination to the project’s outcomes, facilitating their adoption by the market and industry operators.