Calculate the MKI value in 4 steps

Clients, especially national and local governments, increasingly value sustainability and sustainable products and services. Suppliers of sustainable products quickly gain an advantage with such clients, especially if they have used the Environmental Cost Indicator (Dutch: Milieukostenindicator (MKI)) to show what impact their product has on the environment. To determine the MKI value, a four-step process must be followed:

Step 1: Collect!

As a manufacturer you know where the raw materials of your products come from. During this step you collect all data about those raw materials. This includes all the raw materials required for production, the processes that take place during production and energy consumption.

Step 2: Addition

Once you have collected all the data, a specialist can perform a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) based on this. The emission of, for example, CO₂ and NOx that takes place during the entire life cycle is then mapped.

Step 3: What does my product do to the environment?

An environmental profile (EPD) is drawn up on the basis of an LCA. This shows how a product scores on eleven basis environmental effects. These categories can be specified according to themes such as ozone depletion, depletion of raw materials or climate change. This way you can see in which areas a product is most harmful to the environment.

Step 4: Shadow price

The score on the eleven basic environmental effects is multiplied by a conversion factor. The total of these results is added together and yields the MKI value/shadow price. These are the prevention costs that should be incurred to remedy the environmental damage.