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

PARALLEL SESSION 7A: CONSUMERS 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
To be transparent, the methodology used is described giving details about the environmental indicators
definitions and the hypotheses used in this study (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Nescafé® LCA Communication Tool, description of the indicators assessed.
4. Conclusion
In the French environmental experimentation context, the communication of LCA results to the general
public is one of the main challenges of this initiative. The Nescafé® LCA Communication Tool is an example
of user-friendly interactive solution that allows consumers to analyse for themselves the results per life cycle
stage and per indicator. The main advantages of this kind of communication are the limited amount of information
on display at a time, allowing analysis of complex results of an LCA in a simple and engaging way,
as well as creating an interactivity which attracts the attention of the user. The “Grenelle de
l’Environnement” initiative is a multi-indicator approach which allows coverage of a wider range of environmental
impacts (e.g. it is not only focused on carbon footprint). A multi-indicator approach results in a
communication challenge. The idea to show a limited amount of information on display at a time is a good
option to overcome this challenge.
While it is clear that consumers are still becoming familiar with a life cycle assessment approach to understanding
environmental impacts, this kind of solution can be a valuable start in moving from scientific
report based results to more engaging consumer communication.
5. References
BP X 30-323, 2011. Principes généraux pour l'affichage environnemental des produits de grande consommation. Référentiel de
bonnes pratiques. AFNOR. France.
Cros, C., Fourdrin, E., Réthoré, O., 2010. The French initiative on environmental information of mass market products. International
Journal of Lice Cycle Assessment 15, 537-539.
Humbert, S., Loerincik, Y., Rossi, V., Margni, M., Jolliet, O., 2009. Life cycle assessment of spray dried soluble coffee and comparison
with alternatives (drip filter and capsule espresso). Journal of Cleaner Production 17, 1351-1358.
Jolliet, O., Margni, M., Charles, R., Humbert, S., Payet, J., Rebitzer, G., Rosenbaum, R., 2003. IMPACT 2002+: a new life cycle
impact assessment method. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 8(6), 324–30.
Humbert, S., De Schryver, A., Margni, M., Jolliet, O., 2012. IMPACT 2002+: User Guide, Draft for version Q2.2 (version adapted
by Quantis). Available at http://www.quantis-intl.com.
Nescafé website, 2011. Available at http://nescafe.outil-acv.com.
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