LCA Food 2012 in Saint Malo, France! - Manifestations et colloques ...

PARALLEL SESSION 5A: FOOD LABELLING 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
Implementation by a large-scale retailer of a multi-criteria
environmental labelling for food products: the Casino Environmental
Index
Marion Sarteel * , Frédéric Croison, Bérénice Harfouf-Ponthus, Olivier Jan 1 , Eric Labouze
1 BIO Intelligence Service, France
Corresponding author. E-mail: marion.sarteel@biois.com
ABSTRACT
In 2011, BIO IS and Casino, with the participation of suppliers, developed and tested an environmental labelling methodology called
“the Environmental Index”, based on LCA and communicated through a single-score. GHG emissions, water consumption and eutrophication
are quantified through LCA methodology, weighted and aggregated through PRIOR® method. The score represents the
environmental impact of 100g of product compared to the environmental impact of the average daily food consumption of a French
person. This score, similar to on-pack nutritional information, provides a benchmark on more than 160 products and helps consumers
into more responsible purchasing habits. For manufacturers, the data collection is easily handled but time spent can be important. The
methodology chosen is flexible for integration of future upgrades without having to change the format of the Environmental Index, to
which consumers become familiarised. Nonetheless, the aggregation method may be updated, extended to the wider European context,
and improved with biodiversity information.
Keywords: environmental labelling, experimentation, consumable food products, Environmental Index, Casino, aggregation, LCA
1. Introduction
Since 2006, BIO Intelligence Service has supported Casino, a major retailer, in its efforts to evaluate the
environmental impact of its own-brand products in France. The “Carbon Index,” which has been displayed
on-pack on more than 600 products, shows greenhouse gas emissions emitted in the production of 100 g of
the finished product (Casino, 2012). In 2011, BIO Intelligence Service and Casino contributed to environmental
labelling experimentation in France and developed a multi-criteria environmental labelling methodology
based on Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). First designed and tested with seven partners (suppliers and
NGOs), the methodology and its result, a single-score called the “Environmental Index,” is progressively
being implemented on all Casino-branded food products.
The goal of the study is to make simplified LCA and environmental analysis simple and accessible for industries,
manufacturers and retailers. With low implementation costs and good quality results, the study
demonstrates the feasibility of a multi-criteria environmental labelling. The study also demonstrates that it is
possible to communicate environmental information to consumers, thanks to a single indicator, which is
visible and easily understood by customers.
The study stems from an active collaboration between retailers, food manufacturers and BIO IS as an environmental
labelling consultancy. The partners are:
Alter Eco
BIO Intelligence Service
Environmental NGO (confidential)
Groupe Casino – EMC Distribution
Fruité SAS
Glon Sanders Holding
MerAlliance
Monoprix
Saint Amand
St Michel
A technical partnership was also organised with an environmental organisation which monitored every
stage of the study’s development.
2. Methods
2.1. General methodological framework
The quantification of the environmental impacts of food products relies on LCA methodology, recommendations
of ADEME-AFNOR platform (2011) and the draft “Food product PCR”.
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