The environmental footprint of your packaging is displayed and summarised in your eco forecast. (image below)
Let’s go through every part.
a. Environmental Impact Score
What: A labeling system ranging from A - G to show how environmentally friendly your packaging is. It uses stoplight colors similar to energy and nutrition labels.
Why: The Impact score is an intuitive way to give customers or other stakeholders a clear impression of your packaging’s environmental impact. The labeling is based on our eco cost model. Which is explained in point 2.1.
Scores are usually higher for bigger, heavier packaging types. This makes sense. The bigger and heavier - the more materials used - the higher its environmental impact.
b. Expected Eco costs total
What: A single score for your packaging’s footprint expressed in € per kg of material. The score summarizes all 12 impact categories in LCA.
Why: Having a single score allows us to finally compare the complete impacts of different products. Something that’s otherwise impossible, as all impacts have different measurement units.
You can see eco costs as the environmental costs that aren’t reflected in the market price of your packaging. Put it on top of your sales price and you have a ‘True’ price for your packaging.
Read more about eco costs here.
c. Carbon footprint.
What: Total carbon footprint of your packaging expressed in CO2-eq and eco costs.
Why: Carbon footprints are popular for a reason. They often make up the biggest impact chunk of your packaging. But this isn’t always the case - which is why it’s crucial we cover 4 impact categories in Pickler.
d. Impact on Resource Scarcity.
What: Impact your packaging product has on resource scarcity, expressed in eco costs.
Why: Every new product requires raw materials that need to be retrieved. This heavily impacts our available resources and creates resource depletion/scarcity. A big issue to solve in our goals to create a more circular economy, hence a focus area from the EU.
For example - if you use recycled materials in your production, this often decreases your impact on resource scarcity.
e. Impact on Ecosystems
What: Impact your packaging has on disrupting ecosystems, expressed in eco costs.
Why: Our ecosystems are crucial to creating balance in nature. However, our economic activities are decreasing biodiversity and polluting soil, water, and landscapes. All together damaging entire ecosystems. Making it one of the crucial impact categories to report on.
f. Impact on Human Health
What: Impact your packaging has on human health, expressed in eco costs.
Why: Next to polluting our environment - our economic efforts result in many types of emissions that can cause cancer or other illnesses for humans. A crucial aspect to cover.
g. Eco costs per product stage.
What: shows which stage in your packaging’s life cycle represents your biggest impact.
Material (your BOM)
Production
Transport
End of life
Why: This information shows where your biggest impact comes from. And therefore, also where the biggest reduction potential can be achieved. Crucial information for improvements or proposing sustainable alternatives to stakeholders.