The footprint for materials in this stage is calculated by the amount of the used material times the footprint of the material. The eco-costs of the materials in the packaging product are summed up based on their weight factor (weight material in product (kg) / total weight product (kg)).

The footprint of virgin materials includes the logistics and extraction processes till the gate of the refining facility that turns the raw material into usable material. However, the packaging products may include recycled or other types of materials that require some adaptations in the calculation, which will be explained below.

The benefit of recycling is accounted for in the material supply stage. For example, when a product consists of 50% recycled material, the eco-costs of the raw material stage are 0.5 times the eco-costs of the virgin material plus 0.5 times the eco-costs of the recycled material. The eco-costs of the recycled material depend on the type of materials.

Pickler applies LCA data from the IDEMAT dataset only, to maximize internal consistency of the calculations (other databases have often slightly different calculation rules). All materials are in the data lines A…. of this database.
The specific calculation rules of IDEMAT are given in the 15 General Calculation Rules, and the 4 Rules to refrain from Greenwashing).

Rules per material type

When a Pickler user has paper with a lower eco-costs score than the same material in Idemat, the user can ask Pickler to apply data from an EPD of IBU, Environdec, EPD Norge, INIES, EPD Italy, AENOR, RTS EPD (data of other LCA sources are not accepted, since they are not verified by an EPD institute).

When the printing firm has its own electricity supply (e.g. PV cells on the roof), then Pickler will use the actual electricity mix (e.g. percentage of the grid plus percentage of the PV cells). Proof of a local audit & assurance firm is required

specific default values for AKD, ASA, Rosin, and PFAS are 1%, where ASA is the default additive for improved water resistance

specific default value of plasticizers in PVC is 30%, where DEHP is the default plasticizer

>98% of the used material is provided (including filler, glue, coating, and ink)

User has evidence for the input data values.

User agrees that the packaging does not contain any harmful substances according to the latest European legislation.

If raw material contains amounts of titanium white or zinc white this will be stated by the user.

Additives for water resistance, like AKD, ASA, Rosin, and PFAS for paper, must be taken into account when its weight is more than 0,1% of the total weight.

Plasticizers like DEHP, DBP, and BBP must be reported, especially in PVC, when the content is more than 10%

All other (raw) materials, virgin as well as recycled, including transport packaging, must be taken into account when its weight is more than 1% of the total weight

Chemicals that are not allowed in packaging in contact with food have to be reported.

The footprint is calculated by multiplying the amount of energy (electricity and/or heat source) used for the production for every entered material by the energy mix of the country where the production process takes place. Since the energy mix of an electricity grid of a country can vary factor 30 between countries, we always ask for the location of the production process.

We assume 0% processing waste. Research shows that waste during production is often negligible, as most material is recycled and efforts to minimize waste are effective. This assumption provides a more accurate view of the actual impact.

We assume that the waste will be recycled and is therefore not included in the end-of-life footprint calculations. The reason for this is that the individual material that is used for the product often consists of mono-materials that are easily recycled.

Pickler applies LCA data from the IDEMAT dataset only, to maximize internal consistency of the calculations (other databases have often slightly different calculation rules). All data on electricity and heat are in the data lines B…. of this database.

Pickler uses IDEMAT data lines for heat that include CO2 emissions, so that these emissions are not counted under Scope 1.

When the manufacturing plant has its own electricity supply (e.g. PV cells on the roof), then Pickler will use the actual electricity mix (e.g. percentage of the grid plus percentage of the PV cells). Proof of a local audit & assurance firm is required.

When the manufacturing plant has a special heat source (e.g. waste or renewable biomass), or has special systems for energy efficiency, the calculations can be adapted under the following conditions: (a) proof of the data by a local audit & assurance firm or (b) an EPD of the whole manufacturing plant (verified by IBU, Environdec, EPD Norge, INIES, EPD Italy, AENOR, RTS EPD)

When the location (country) of the manufacturing plant is known, Pickler will apply the electricity data of IDEMAT of that specific country: the IDEMAT data lines ‘B.042.02 Energy, electricity EU UK, CH, Norway consumption’ and data lines ‘B.044.01…. trough B.044.08….’ for the rest of the world (‘production’).

When the location is not known, Pickler will apply line ‘B.040.01.101.230701 Electricity General Industry’, being a global average

For default value, view Production section of data list document

Pickler doesn’t calculate the environmental burden of packaging in the use phase, since: (a) the packaging firm does not know the details of the usage of all their specific end-users (b) the environmental burden of packaging - that is approved within the EU and the USA - in the use phase can be neglected (i.e. is by far less than 1% of the total environmental burden)

Re-use is not calculated in Pickler, since the “reference unit” is kg, m, or m2. In such an approach re-use is not accounted (since the refence unit is not “per usage”). This choice is intentionally: the packaging firm does not know the value of re-use of a specific end-user, since the packaging firm does not know the “economic lifespan” of its product for all the specific clients (Note that the economic lifetime is in most cases much less than the technical lifetime)

The user is free to mention the lifetime in the description of the product (“…..this product can me used more than x times”). Pickler does not ask for any proof of such statement in the product description, since it is not used in the Pickler calculations.

The transport impact is calculated by determining whether the product is transported by weight or volume, based on its density. The impact is then multiplied by the distance traveled for each leg of the journey, with a default addition of 1,000 km for material transport.

For transport over land, long haul data on 40 ft container trucks are applied (as they are common in Europe), under the assumption of a full truck load on the outward journey and an empty truck on the return trip. Pickler distinguishes between heavy freight (more than 410 kg/m3) and light freight (less than 410 kg/m3).

The fuel for the trucks is either Ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) or Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) applied.

For sea transport, 40 feet containers at big container vessels are assumed (passing the Suez Chanel. Pickler distinguishes between heavy freight (more than 410 kg/m3) and light freight (less than 410 kg/m3)

Volume and weight. There is a point that a freight is considered as volume transport or as weight transport. The break-even point for this is calculated as: (break-even weight/volume ratio) / (actual weight/volume ratio).In this way, packaging that is lightweight and uses a lot of volume is taken into consideration.

Load factors. In the calculation of the environmental footprint of transport, we consider the average 'load factors', which are on average the number of times that there is a returning freight available. The load factors (or occupancy rate) depend on the transport method.

Pickler automatically calculates the distance and predicts transport method, when locations are mapped. The transport distance over sea is calculated by using Sea routes and distances. The transport distance over land is calculated by using Google Maps. For more information, see https://help.pickler.io/en/articles/10052761-how-automatic-transport-calculations-work

The distance, locations and way of transport can be changed by the user using the product form or import functionalities.

Pickler adds 1000km by default to cover for the transport from material extraction site to the production facility. By default, truck with trailer transport is used, method (volume or weight based) is decided based on density.

For default values, view Transport section of this article https://help.pickler.io/en/articles/9527646-input-data-and-default-values#h_40029af9d5,

The impact of the End-of-Life (EOL) stage is calculated by applying the footprint of the relevant EOL scenario based on the material type and regional data. If a custom EOL mix is used, the highest impact scenario is applied to ensure a conservative calculation.

Pickler applies the so called “cut-off” at the waste stockpile. This means that there is no carry-over of eco-burden from the old product to the new, recycled, product (according to EN 15804). For a detailed description of how such a calculation system works in cradle-to-cradle situations, see FAQ 2.6 of ecocostsvalue.com
Pickler applies the rule that biogenic carbon = 0 (in the short carbon cycle), according to the choice in IPCC and in the vast majority of the scientific LCA community. This is because the life span of packaging is less than 100 years, except from non-degradable bio-plastics in landfill. The consequences of this rule is described in FAQ 2.3 of ecocostsvalue.com on “how to handle carbon sequestration in bio-based products”.

The consequences of carbon sequestration in landfill for non-degradable bio-plastics are described in FAQ 2.20 of ecocostsvalue.com .
Note. FAQ 2.20 describes one of the reasons why carbon footprint calculations don’t give satisfactory results in cradle-to-cradle calculations for packaging. The eco-costs system does not have this problem.

Pickler applies the rule in Section 4.3.3.1 of ISO 14044 for combustible waste in municipal waste incinerators (e.g. a credit for waste incineration with heat recovery). For further explanation see FAQ 2.4 of ecocostsvalue.com (“How to make calculations on waste that can be burned”). Data lines in IDEMAT with regard to this type of end-of-life are in F.050.01… through F.105.01

Pickler applies the IDEMAT data lines F.130.01…. for composting, and anaerobic digestion, and landfill

Transport and sorting of waste is neglected in the Pickler system, since: (1) the eco-burden of these activities are less than 1% of the total chain (2) these activities are case specific

Waste from production (converting) is assumed to be recycled internally, which is included in the IDEMAT processing data.

Data lines for down- and upcycles plastics can be found in A.130.03.
Pickler applies these data at the input of the manufacturing step, see FAQ 2.6 of ecocostsvalue.com (“the way recycling is structured”), and FAQ 2.9 (“recycling indicators”). Note that pickler applies the so-called Eol-RIR (i.e. the recycling content in the product)

The footprint for collecting, transporting and sorting the waste is kept out of scope since the contribution to the overall footprint is considered very low.

The eco-costs end-of-life scenarios are given in environmental databases per material. The three prior end-of-life scenariosa are:

The end-of-life of packaging products is only known from country wide statistics (since it depends on the behavior of end-users). Pickler applies the following tables for regions (literature references can be found at FAQ 2.21 of ecocostsvalue.com). Pickler therefor applies default values.

Users can divert from this, but values can only be applied of they have a worse score than the default value - since it’s not possible to predict the end of life. If a value doesn’t fit (e.g., composting for metal), Pickler will skip it and use the default scenario instead. More information can be found in this article: https://help.pickler.io/en/articles/7210957-5-adding-the-end-of-life-eol-stage

To prevent unsupported claims, Pickler only applies custom values if they result in higher eco-costs than the default, ensuring reliable and trustworthy results.
​