Requirements on Consumer Information about Product ... - ANEC

Consumer Information about PCF
4.1 Advantages of the LCA/PCF for environmental labelling
Integration of all life cycle stages
“LCA is one of the few methodologies that are capable of dealing with all stages of a product
life cycle. Although the depth and breadth of the analyses widely depend on the scope and
the defined system boundaries, LCA is at least theoretically capable of summarising the
environmental impacts of all process steps from cradle to grave. Therefore, LCAmethodology
has in this respect a clear advantage over other labelling techniques, which is
especially effective for product groups featuring a variety of severe environmental impacts
during various life cycle stages.” Prakash 2008
For the PCF approach the same is true as for the general LCA approach: The assessment of
the whole life cycle is a strength compared to other techniques. But it has to be mentioned
that according to PAS 2050 and labels basing on it (e.g. Carbon reduction label from Carbon
Trust) only for B2C products the PCF is conducted over the whole life cycle (cradle to grave).
For B2B products only a cradle to gate analysis is performed. Furthermore, as there is not
yet consistency among the different labels on the market at the moment, there are carbon
labels around that not at all consider use and end-of life phase (e.g. Casino Carbon Index
does not cover use and end-of-life).
For in-depth PCF studies that aim at giving an overview of a products’ climate impact and at
identifying the hotspots of a product, it is important that they cover the whole life cycle.
When, for example comparing industrially produced convenience food with food that is
cooked in the consumers home it would give a wrong picture if the use phase (storage and
preparation) was left out. Such an in-depth PCF study is a very good starting point for
developing product criteria in the context of a type I label: What are the hotspots? What
aspects may be neglected?
If a products’ life cycle shows clear-cut hotspots concerning CO2e emissions, e.g. in the
usage phase, it can be justified to restrict further PCF studies meant as base for a labelling to
that phase and leave out the others. Nevertheless it has to be kept in mind that the
fundamental in-depth PCF study may have to be repeated from time to time if e.g. framework
conditions change or if there are significant product innovations.
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