Process  database

Licence for the NMD process database

The NMD process database is managed and maintained by the Dutch Environmental Database Foundation (Stichting NMD). The licence subscription runs from 1 January to 1 January of the following year. With this, Stichting NMD commits to providing access to the NMD process database. The responsibility for implementation lies with the subscriber. Interim updates, including new process data and methodological changes, are part of the subscription and are provided as new versions of the NMD process database.

Once you have received the NMD process database, you can import it into the SimaPro software tool, which is available under licence and provided by Pré Sustainability. For more information about a SimaPro subscription, please visit their website.

Before delivering the NMD process database, Stichting NMD always checks whether a valid SimaPro licence is in place.

You can request a licence for the process database by completing the application form below and submitting a signed version of the procedure for provision. Download these documents here:

Information for producers and manufacturers

The NMD process database is mainly based on the Ecoinvent database, which covers thousands of international processes. As a producer, you have the option to include your own data relating to processes or semi-finished products directly in the NMD Process database as category 1 or 2 data. In this way, the information is made as representative as possible and tailored to the Dutch situation. NMD Foundation makes the final decision on whether your data is eligible for inclusion. The adding of your own data into the NMD process database is free of charge. 

Source of international and national processes

The NMD process database forms a comprehensive collection of both international and national processes. These data can be used as a basis for preparing environmental declarations in the NMD. This offers several advantages:

LCA practitioners can use the NMD process database as an alternative to product-specific process information to create a complete environmental profile of a product

A selection of the basic processes from the NMD process database is used as the basis for the generic environmental declarations (category 3)

In some cases, it may be desirable to add product-specific process data for compiling environmental declarations in the NMD. This can be useful, for example, when specific process data, such as industry averages, provide a more accurate picture of the actual environmental performance.

The requirements for adding category 1 & 2 data for raw materials and generic basic processes (category 3) to the NMD process database are described in the downloadable documents below.

Processes that meet these requirements can be submitted to Stichting NMD using the designated submission form. Please note that both Stichting NMD and the manager of the process database may reject and/or return newly submitted processes if they do not meet the specified requirements.

Basic processes must be updated periodically and are valid for a maximum of five years, just like environmental declarations. Data owners can update their data by submitting a new template.