How Pickler turns product data into scalable environmental impact calculations using IDEMAT.
IDEMAT matters because product footprint work depends on a consistent link between product data and environmental background data. Most companies do not have measured supplier-specific impact data for every material, process, transport step and end-of-life route.
Using IDEMAT helps create scalable carbon footprint and eco-cost calculations, improve product comparisons and support reporting preparation. It also makes data-quality improvement more concrete, because teams can see where better primary data would improve decisions, claims or customer communication most.
Pickler uses IDEMAT as a secondary LCA data layer behind product-level impact calculations. Customer product data, such as material composition, weight, transport information and end-of-life assumptions, is mapped to relevant IDEMAT datasets for materials, energy, processes and waste treatment.
Pickler then applies its calculation rules to generate environmental impact data. This helps customers calculate many products consistently, while making clear which inputs are primary data, which are secondary data and where assumptions or defaults are used.
Customers can calculate product footprints faster without collecting every upstream emission factor themselves. That makes impact data more usable for sales, product development, reporting preparation, supplier conversations and portfolio decisions.
IDEMAT-based secondary data helps create consistent comparisons between products, materials and alternatives. Customers also get a clearer path for improving data quality: start with a transparent baseline, identify hotspots, then request better primary data where it matters most for decisions and communication.
IDEMAT is a secondary life cycle inventory database used in lifecycle assessment, or LCA. It provides background environmental data for materials, energy, transport, production processes and waste treatment. In practical terms, IDEMAT helps answer a question that sits behind every product footprint: what environmental impact is connected to the materials and processes used to make, move and treat a product?
Pickler uses IDEMAT because most companies can describe their products, but cannot measure every upstream process themselves. A company may know the product weight, material composition, supplier, production country, transport route or expected waste scenario. It usually does not know the full environmental profile behind raw material extraction, electricity generation, industrial processing, logistics or recycling. IDEMAT helps fill that background data gap.
In LCA, primary data is product-specific information collected directly from the company, supplier or production process being assessed. Examples include exact weight, material split, recycled content, production location, energy use and transport distance. Primary data is valuable because it makes a footprint more representative of the actual product.
Secondary data is different. It comes from databases, scientific literature, industry averages and modelled background datasets. It is used when primary data is unavailable, incomplete or not realistic to collect. This is normal in product footprinting. Even companies with strong supplier relationships rarely have measured data for every material input, chemical process, energy source, transport leg and end-of-life treatment route.
Without secondary data, product-level LCA would become too slow and expensive to apply across a full portfolio. Companies would either calculate only a few products in depth, or rely on broad sustainability statements without a structured environmental basis. Secondary data creates a practical middle ground: use the best available product data, connect it to credible background data, and improve data quality over time.
Pickler uses IDEMAT to translate product data into product impact data. Customers provide or import product information, such as materials, weights, transport details and relevant assumptions. Pickler then maps those inputs to suitable IDEMAT datasets and applies calculation rules to produce environmental impact results, including carbon footprint and eco-costs where relevant.
The mapping step is important. A database does not automatically create a useful footprint. The product still needs to be modelled correctly. A fibre, plastic, metal, coating, textile or composite material should be linked to the right background dataset. A product moved by truck, ship or air should not be treated in the same way. Pickler’s methodology helps make these choices consistent across many product types.
This matters for companies managing non-food products, apparel, textiles, consumer goods or packaging as one example category. The practical challenge is not one calculation; it is repeatable calculation. Pickler helps turn IDEMAT from a technical data source into a usable workflow for sustainability, product, sales and reporting teams.
Product comparisons are only useful when the underlying data and assumptions are consistent. If two products are calculated with different databases, different scopes or different modelling choices, the result may say more about the method than about the products. Using IDEMAT as a consistent secondary data layer helps reduce that risk.
For example, a company may want to compare two product alternatives with different material mixes, weights, recycled content or transport routes. When both alternatives are calculated with the same methodology and comparable background data, the difference is easier to interpret. The comparison can support commercial questions such as which product to recommend, which supplier data to request, where the biggest impact hotspot sits or which design change is worth testing.
Secondary databases are updated over time as new research, industry data and modelling improvements become available. When background data changes, product footprint results can change as well. This can happen even when the customer has not changed the product input data. For example, if the background data for a material, energy mix, transport process or waste treatment route is updated, products linked to that dataset may receive updated results.
That does not necessarily mean an earlier result was wrong. It means the footprint is a calculated result based on a specific data version, scope and method. For reporting, customer communication and internal decision-making, this versioned nature is important. Companies should understand when results were calculated, which assumptions were used and whether a database update has changed the background data.
IDEMAT can support better reporting preparation because it gives companies a structured way to calculate product-level impact when supplier-specific data is incomplete. It helps create a baseline that can be improved over time. Instead of waiting for perfect data, teams can calculate with transparent assumptions, identify hotspots and then request better primary data where it matters most.
For sustainability claims, the value is not that IDEMAT makes every claim automatically acceptable. The value is that it creates a more transparent evidence base than vague statements. A claim about a lower calculated footprint should still explain the scope, data quality and assumptions behind the comparison. Pickler helps customers use impact data more carefully, but customers remain responsible for how results are used in reports, tenders and marketing.
IDEMAT helps companies move faster without pretending that every detail is supplier-specific. It provides the secondary data layer behind materials and processes, while Pickler adds the product workflow, mapping logic, assumptions and output structure. The result is a practical way to calculate product footprints across a portfolio, identify hotspots and compare alternatives.
The main takeaway is simple: IDEMAT does not replace good product data, and it does not remove the need for responsible interpretation. It makes product footprinting scalable by filling the background data gaps that almost every company faces. Pickler uses that foundation to help companies turn product data into useful environmental impact information for decisions, comparisons, reporting preparation and careful sustainability communication.
IDEMAT is a valuable secondary data source, but it does not make every footprint exact, supplier-specific or legally compliant by itself. Results still depend on product data quality, mapping choices, calculation scope, assumptions, defaults and communication context.
Database updates can also change results even when the product has not changed. Pickler supports transparent and consistent calculations, but customers remain responsible for checking whether specific claims, reports or regulatory uses need additional evidence or review.
IDEMAT creates business value because it makes product footprinting practical across a portfolio, not just for one-off expert studies. Instead of collecting every upstream emission factor manually, companies can combine their own product data with consistent secondary LCA data and move faster from questions to decisions. That helps environmental impact data become useful in sales, product development, reporting preparation and supplier conversations, without slowing down commercial decisions.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
Easily manage products in bulk through API or spreadsheets.
