Two-thirds of consumers support carbon footprints on product labelling.
What is a carbon footprint?
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that is produced when fossil fuels are burned, such as coal and natural gas. We experience global warming as a result of carbon dioxide trapping heat on our planet much like that of a greenhouse. Carbon footprint refers to how much carbon dioxide (including methane) we generate from our actions. The lower the carbon footprint, the better.
What are carbon labels?
Climate footprint measures the amount of greenhouse gases released during the production, transportation, and packaging of a food product. A common unit is used to compare different greenhouse gases. The carbon dioxide equivalent unit is called kilograms. The carbon footprint label provides consumers with information on how their purchase decisions impact the environment.
Why do consumers support carbon labels?
Carbon Trust commissioned YouGov to survey 10,000 consumers in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US in 2020. More than two-thirds (67%) of consumers support the introduction of carbon labels.
For the UK, 63% agreed with the notion of adding a carbon label, while 51% admitted that they didn’t think about the carbon footprint of products when shopping.
Hugh Jones, director of the Carbon Trust, says this research aligns with the growing demand for carbon footprinting and labelling in corporate products over the past year. By quantifying the carbon footprints of their products and services, companies gain insight into where they can increase efficiency.
“The sustained and high levels of consumer support for carbon labelling suggests that passing this information on to increasingly well-informed and climate-conscious consumers can also enhance a company’s reputation and market share.”
A Carbon Trust survey of 9,000 consumers across seven countries found similar support for adding carbon footprint labels to products, either voluntary or mandatory.
Examples of carbon labels
Quorn Foods is introducing labels detailing the carbon footprint of its products to some of its most popular lines, as consumer interest in the climate impact of groceries rises. Earlier this month, Allbirds announced that they will become the first fashion brand to label every product they make with a carbon footprint.
Policymakers and businesses are starting to re-float the carbon labelling debate since the UK Government announced its 2050 net-zero target – and citizen climate activism has grown exponentially over the past year.
Nestle and Premier Foods both announced late last year that they were considering carbon labelling for their products. Both companies have set internal carbon reduction targets. Premier Foods is aiming to reduce its carbon footprint by 55% by 2025 and Nestle is striving for net zero global footprints by 2050. They hope that claim labelling could help them achieve their objectives.
The idea of carbon labelling has been around for some time. As early as 2008, Tesco launched a range of 20 products with the Carbon Trust badged with a Carbon Reduction Label but dropped it in 2012 after other retailers failed to follow suit.”
Lack of consumer understanding, the complexity of gathering and reporting data, and the high cost of assessing each product, which would have to be repeated a year later so that it captures the most up-to-date statistics, were the main reasons why the initiative was cancelled. To dimension, most retailers, have 10’s of thousands of product lines and even more unique packaging Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) e.g., each product will typically have as a minimum of a film and a box.
Where Benchmark comes in
Benchmark has been working in the field of measuring the carbon footprint of packaging materials for 4 years engaging with science-based data, academics at the University of Nottingham, and a Commercial Life Cycle Analyst. We started with the premise that wherever there is a commercial cost there is a carbon footprint. Many of the largest packaging producers and brands use our software to estimate packaging costs, materials, manufacturing, and delivery, so we are uniquely positioned to estimate both commercial and carbon footprints for every SKU.
We can also provide a label that verifies the data presented to consumers – a simple traffic light solution that can demonstrate a business’s Carbon Net Zero Journey and provide easy decision-making by the consumer at the point of purchase. By integrating a QR code into our label, we can accurately calculate and report granular CO2e data (by material, production process, packing, storage, and delivery). The system solution is designed such that many 1,000’s unique packaging references can be calculated in a matter of minutes saving huge amounts of time and cost. Our team can then track a business’s Net Zero Journey to protect it from accusations of greenwashing.
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