FINAT, the European label association, has introduced a new initiative designed to give guidance to the label industry on the growing market demand for Product Carbon Footprint data. The initiative is part of FINAT’s ‘Four Pillar’ program designed to increase the association’s agility in the areas of community networking, knowledge, collaboration and industry advocacy. The Product Carbon Footprint leaflet and video are part of several new releases being presented at Labelexpo Europe.
There is a growing demand for objective criteria to measure the environmental impact of labels and packaging products and processes, and to provide data to customers and stakeholders FINAT said.
FINAT has initiated a project to provide clarity and give guidance to the label community on the subject of Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA).
As a first step, at the press conference, on Tuesday 12 September at 12.00 CET at Labelexpo Europe, FINAT launched a brochure and animated video to explain the basics of PCF and LCA, the distinction between the two and the fact that this needs an entire value chain approach.
The two next steps for 2023-2024 are:
• a survey of existing calculation methods currently being used in the labels and packaging production chain (for release in the first quarter of 2024).
• a guidance document toward harmonizing the PCF/LCA approach along the label value chain. This will be done in the form of a whitepaper and presentation at the next FINAT Technical Seminar to be held from November 20-22, 2024, in Barcelona, Spain.
The project falls under the scope of FINAT’s new Workstream ‘Collaboration’ that is co-chaired by Board members Alex Knott, Dow, and Uwe Düsterwald, BASF.
