Article date:26 February 2010
Written by:Jose Espinosa
A re-usable plastic distribution tray has become the first product in the supply chain sector to have its carbon footprint independently verified.
Sustain carried out the carbon footprint of LINPAC Allibert's 'Maxinest' tray, which was used as a pilot project in 2008 to inform the development of PAS 2050 - a specification for the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from goods and services.
The carbon footprint has now been verified by certification body Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA).
The project is part of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) pilot programme for the accreditation of verifiers for PAS 2050 - a programme that was launched in September last year.
Working with six separate certification bodies, the UKAS trial assesses the certification of products and services to the PAS 2050 standard and its accompanying Code of Good Practice.
LRQA, a member of the Lloyd's Register Group, is one of the selected bodies and is a global leader in independent climate change validation, verification, training and certification services.
Michael Hill, environmental accounting associate at Sustain, said: "It's exciting to be working as part of this collaboration to develop a new verification process for PAS2050 and it reflects our leading edge work in carbon footprinting.
"The standard gives a good basis to work from but until an organisation gets the results verified, there will always be those who doubt the process.
"It's important that we move towards a verified carbon footprint process so organisations can communicate the results with absolute confidence."
The carbon footprint assessment was based on each crate performing 92 return trips (a 20-day cycle) over five years.
Sustain calculated the tray's carbon footprint to be 26 kg CO2e in total, or 0.0082 kg CO2e per litre per trip.
The PAS 2050 certificate was presented by LRQA's managing director, Mike James. Accepting the certificate, Danilo Oliynik, LINPAC Allibert's commercial director, said: "We are delighted to be the first company to receive this certificate from LRQA. It provides tangible, independently verified data that will help our customers reduce their carbon footprint by exploiting the lower carbon footprint of plastic returnable transit packaging."
Part of the international LINPAC Group, LINPAC Allibert manufactures Europe's largest range of reusable plastic containers and pallets for storage, handling and distribution. LINPAC Allibert's products can be used again and again, helping their customers comply with packaging waste regulations, reduce their carbon footprint and save money.
LINPAC's Maxinest product is used in a wide range of industrial sectors and is probably best known for its role in transporting food products to point-of-sale by the UK's major grocery retailers.
LRQA's Mike James said: "The importance of independently verified carbon footprint data will continue to grow, as future educated consumers begin to base their purchasing decisions on the transparency and credibility of environmental data from organisations and products."
Commenting on the benefits of being verified to the PAS 2050
specification, LINPAC Allibert's Simon Mendes said: "Internally,
the process has helped us to identify and improve performance along
the supply chain. Externally, LRQA verification delivers confidence
and trust in the data so that _300x218.jpg)
we can now help
customers to achieve their own environmental targets."
Looking forward, Paul Smith, LRQA's climate change manager, said: "As more companies follow LINPAC Allibert's lead, environmental performance will be enhanced and verified product carbon footprint data will become an increasingly important factor in both domestic and commercial purchasing decisions."
From left Paul Smith -
LRQA, Mike James - LRQA,
Danilo Olivnik - LINPAC Allibert, Michael Hill - Sustain
