Fanout Fiber Optic Cable

Declaration details

Manufacturer

AFL Telecommunications LLC

Program operator

Smart EPD

Declaration number

SmartEPD-2026-066-1088-01

Date of issue

October 7, 2026

Valid until

October 7, 2031

Product category rules (PCR)

PEP ecopassport® PROGRAM PSR Specific Rules for Wires, Cables and Accessories (PSR-0001-ed4-EN-2022 11 16) (version 4)

Standard

ISO 14025:2006 and EN 15804:2012+A2:2019/AC:2021

Functional unit

1 m of product To transmit one communication signal over 1 m, at a wavelength of 1310 nm and 1550 nm, for 10 years and at a utilization rate of 100% in accordance with the National Electric Code® (NEC®) Standard on the product spec sheet and as defined in PSR-0001-ed4. Lifetime and use rate correspond to data center applications as defined in the table given in Appendix 6.1. of the specific rules for wire, cables and accessories

System boundary

Cradle to gate with other options (A1 - A3, A4, A5, B6, C2 - C4, D)

Product specificity

Product Average

Manufacturing specificity

Manufacturer Average

Manufacturing plant

AFL - Duncan, SC (170 Ridgeview Ctr Dr, Duncan, SC 29334, USA)

Product service life

10 years

Verifier

Nathan Ayer, EarthShift Global

LCA software

SimaPro 10.4

Program instructions

Smart EPD General Program Instructions v.2.0, March 2025

Life cycle assessment results

Results per 1 m of product To transmit one communication signal over 1 m, at a wavelength of 1310 nm and 1550 nm, for 10 years and at a utilization rate of 100% in accordance with the National Electric Code® (NEC®) Standard on the product spec sheet and as defined in PSR-0001-ed4. Lifetime and use rate correspond to data center applications as defined in the table given in Appendix 6.1. of the specific rules for wire, cables and accessories.

Environmental Impact Assessment Results

Resource Use Indicators

Waste and Output Flow Indicators

ND = not declared. Life cycle modules: A1-A3 product stage, A4-A5 construction process, B use stage, C end of life, D benefits and loads beyond the system boundary.

Material composition

Hazardous substances

No regulated hazardous or dangerous substances are included in this product.

Scenarios

Transport to the building site (A4)

Fuel type

Diesel

Vehicle type

Truck

Transport distance

3447 km

Capacity utilization

50%

Weight of products transported

5.20E-02

Packaging mass

5.64E-02

End of life (C1-C4)

Collected with mixed construction waste

5.20E-02

Landfill

2.60E-02

Incineration

2.60E-02

Product or material for final disposal

5.20E-02

Product description

Fanout Cable is used for connecting the transceiver in the switch unit to the top of rack connector panel within the rack. The LC/DX connector is the start/destination of data link. It consists of MMC Connector on one side, Duplex LC (LC/DX) connectors on the other side. The main cable at the MMC connector end breaks into up to 12 LC/DX legs via a transition piece. All legs in the In-Rack Fanout are the same length. There are several leg length and fiber count options, identifiable by the part number. While all variations utilize 24F based MMC connectors, some part numbers call for non-active fiber positions, hence the varying number of LC/DX legs. The correct part number must be used depending on the switch and link types.

Interpretation

A1-A3 Cradle-to-gate

This section discusses the cradle-to-gate results for the functional unit. The results presented below are for this EPD’s example product, which represents aggregate results for the product considering the bulk cable and fusion splicing elements and the scaling equation. Results for other products can be calculated by leveraging the scaling equation and the results presented in this EPD.

Although this discussion is focused on the LCIA results, calculated using the EF 3.1 LCIA method, the section also includes A1-A3 results for Primary Resource Use, Indicators Describing Waste and Output Flows.

As illustrated in Figure 10 below, stage A3 is the dominant contributor to nearly all reported indicators, with contributions ranging from approximately 44% to 87% of the total A1-A3 impacts (76% on average). The contributions of A1 range from 13% to 56% (23% on average). A2 has the lowest contribution to impacts and is of very low significance. A2 contributes less than 3% across indicators (1% on average).

The bulk cable contributes 37% to A1 GWP-fossil, followed closely by the cable assembly elements at 35% contribution and connectors at 28%. Within the bulk cable, PVC and aramids compounds contribute 50% and 29% to bulk cable A1 results, respectively (9% and 5% to total A1-A3 results). A2 results are driven primarily by the total mass of the product. The cable assembly elements contribute to 59% of A2 GWP-fossil, connector contributes 26% and the bulk cable only contributes 15%. Connector application impacts dominate A3 GWP-fossil contributing 97% and bulk cable manufacturing impacts contributed 3% (69% and 2% to total A1-A3 results respectively). A3 GWP-fossil from connector applications is dominated by electricity consumption (76%). This highlights that both manufacturing stages have a meaningful contribution to the environmental performance of the product in cases of shorter cable length and numerous connectors.

A-C Cradle-to-grave

The LCIA results for A1-C4 demonstrate that the A1-A3 stages dominate impact contributions across all indicators, ranging from 91% to over 99% of the total life cycle impacts. This reinforces the significance of raw material extraction, transportation, and manufacturing processes in determining the overall environmental performance of the product.

Beyond A1-A3, the A4 stage has low contributions ranging from less than 1% to 4% across indicators. Similarly, A5 contributions range from less than 1% to 2% across all impact categories. B modules other than B6 are considered 0 as they are not relevant in this product system. B6 energy use associated with attenuations losses contributes from less than 1% to 2% across all indicators. Modules C1 is not relevant in this assessment as products do not need to be deconstructed, they can be simply unplugged and removed. Modules C2 and C3 contribute 1% or less across all impact categories. The contribution of C4 ranges from less than 1% to 3% across impact categories.

The GWP-fossil impact is influenced primarily by the bulk cable and cable assembly components, although connectors are significant for some modules. A1-A3 GWP-fossil is influenced primarily by bulk cable (41%) followed by cable assembly (30%) and connectors (29%). A4 GWP-fossil is influenced by both the bulk cable (47%) and the cable assembly elements (51%). Connectors have a negligible impact on A4 GWP-fossil at 2%. A5 GWP-fossil is dominated by cable assembly elements (91%) followed by bulk cable (9%). Connectors have a negligible impact on A5 GWP-fossil. A5 impacts arise from the disposal of all packaging and estimated product install waste. B6 GWP-fossil impacts are driven almost entirely by attenuation losses associated with connectors. Attenuation associated with bulk cable has an insignificant impact on B6 GWP-fossil, and cable assembly elements have no contribution to B6. End of life modules C2 – C4 are dominated by the bulk cable as the bulk cable makes up the majority of product mass and packaging material end of life is considered in A5. Bulk cable contributes to over 68% of GWP-fossil across C2 – C4, followed by cable assembly elements (roughly 28%) and connectors (roughly 3-4%). C2 and C3 are modeled via the same transportation and waste processing & sorting pathways for all materials in the study and are therefore driven by differences in mass input only. C4, however, considers material specific end-of-life pathways sourced from EN50693 (Figure 4). The majority of materials in this study are assumed to be incinerated or landfilled at end of life, with only some materials recycled at relatively low rates. Module D results reflect potential avoided impacts beyond the system boundary associated with end-of-life energy recovery and material recycling. These impacts are reported separately and are not included in cradle-to-grave totals.

LCIA results for all groups within this product family can be found in this EPD. These results are to be used in conjunction with the scaling equation to calculate results for the SKUs represented in this EPD only. Results for the Bulk Cable & Cable Assembly groups below should not be used independently of the scaling formula as these LCIA results do not represent finished products.