SMART DESIGN

LABELS&LABELING |25
Reducing carbon emissions
in the label industry
MIKE FAIRLEY looks at the challenge faced by the label industry to reduce carbon emissions and argues for
more joined-up thinking, industry collaboration, and carbon footprint reduction measures for the future
One of the key challenges facing the label industry today is that
of reducing its carbon footprint. Pressures on the packaging
and label industries to reduce carbon emissions are being
driven by governments, brand owners, major retail groups
and consumer organizations; more and more demands are
being made for carbon footprint labeling on packaging, while
packaging users are looking to significantly reduce their carbon
footprint in the supply chain.
In the UK for example, the Climate Change Act in 2008
made the UK the first country to set out a framework for the
transition to a low carbon economy – with a plan to cut carbon
emissions by 80 percent by 2050, and an intermediate target of
a reduction of between 26 percent and 34 percent by 2020.
Many of the national and international retail groups have also
set out ambitious carbon reduction plans. Tesco, one of the
world’s leading retail groups, aims to slash its environmental
footprint by 30 percent by 2020. Trials began a year ago to set
up a supply chain collaboration hub, overseen by consultancy
2degrees. Major suppliers such as Diageo and Coca-Cola have
already joined the group and Tesco is now looking to get its top
1,000 suppliers involved by the end of 2012.
In the USA, Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer and owner of
Asda, has long pledged to slash its carbon footprint by barring
products that contribute to global warming from its shelves and
is looking to its suppliers to reduce 20 million metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2015. The company
has already been working with suppliers in the past few years
to reduce its packaging footprint.
In France, the French government launched a pilot program
to get multinational firms involved with carbon footprint labeling.
Already companies including Unilever, Heineken and Proctor
& Gamble are applying carbon labels to products. Indeed,
the pilot has proved to be so popular that some companies
volunteering to take part even had to be turned down.
Back in the UK, Sainsbury’s supermarket is introducing new
on-pack information aimed at helping shoppers make what it
calls ‘more sustainable purchasing decisions.’ New packaging
designs introduced by the supermarket are reported to have
already generated an 11 percent reduction in packaging weight
over the past two years.
So how are all these initiatives impacting on the label
industry? Certainly some of the leading label companies and
groups have achieved significant sustainability and/or carbon
reduction targets. Spear is undoubtedly a good example of this.
Many of the main industry suppliers have also been working on
initiatives, developing new or modified products, looking at new
solutions, calculating carbon emissions, or introducing new
materials. The industry has certainly moved forward over the
past few years.
The publication by Tarsus in September last year of the
‘Environmental Performance and Sustainable Labeling’
handbook to becoming a greener label converter has also
helped to raise awareness and guide the industry into taking
further steps towards a more sustainable future. Any label
company, whatever its size, should be able to make use of this
publication to good benefit.
Having said that, the label industry cannot afford to rest on its
laurels. The number of label converters or industry suppliers that
have documented carbon footprint reduction targets is probably
a small fraction of the total industry. Indeed it is perhaps difficult
for the many smaller label converters to dedicate time and cost
to creating and implementing such targets.
SUPPLIER AND CONVERTER COLLABORATION TO OBTAIN COMPARATIVE CARBON FOOTPRINT ANALYSIS
AND REDUCTION OF THE LABEL FOOTPRINT IN THE PACKAGING SUPPLY CHAIN
LABEL CONVERTER
LABEL CONVERTING PLANT
LABEL CARBON FOOTPRINT
SUSTRATE
SUPPLIER
INK
SUPPLIER
PRE-PRESS AND
PLATE SUPPLIER
PRESS AND ANCILLARY
EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS
WASTE
RECYCLER
TRANSPORT
SUPPLIER
ALL SUPPLIERS TO PROVIDE A CARBON FOOTPRINT RATING ON THEIR PRODUCTS IN THE FUTURE
JULY 2012 | L&L