Life Cycle Assessment in de-risking and improving supply chains

We asked Nigel Topping, Chuck Grindstuff and Harald Floring how they see the role of Life Cycle Assessment in de-risking and improving supply chains?

Nigel Topping, CIO, Carbon Disclosure Project.
“The vast majority of companies do not have a good understanding of their entire value chain. Everything is connected, things change so quickly and we are at or beyond limits with so many resources that without proper LCA to understand risk, it can be devastating to business. There is a definite need to both understand the risks through LCA and put in place a sound strategy to address the risks throughout the supply chain. With this preparedness, a company has foresight into potential problem areas and can respond by making changes to a product over time throughout the supply chain. This will prevent the devastating impact of getting blind sighted, and help to assure the health of the business.”

Chuck Grindstaff, CEO, Siemens PLM Software.
“The high degree of standardization in material selection and LCA reduces design risks and creates a basis for innovation along the supply chain. It is imperative that the supply chain stay in sync as environmentally-minded design practices evolve from conformance to substantial regulations, to multi-domain optimization.”

Harald Florin, Director of Product Sustainability, PE INTERNATIONAL
“LCA is the proven method to bring complete transparency into product life cycles on every level. It helps to offer an understanding of a changing world, changing technologie and their implications. One of the biggest supply chain risks is a failure to think through decisions and understand risks at every level. With LCA, businesses have a tried and tested approach that will provide the visibility needed to effectively manage and improve their supply chain. “

Kraft says YES to improved sustainability

Kraft Foods has launched an initiative to eliminate 100 million pounds of packaging material from its products worldwide by 2015.

This commitment was the driver behind delivering the Yes Pack, Kraft's new sustainable flexible pouch for salad dressings to the foodservice industry.

The Yes Pack is a stand-up pouch with dual handles, and a rigid screw cap closure that replaces the traditional rigid plastic container for salad dressings. The company states the product is more compact than rigid jugs, and flattens when empty, which can provide easier disposal and lower waste-removal costs.

Kraft partnered with PE to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (Ökobilanz), which quantified the environmental benefits of the Yes Pack.
"After extensive data collection from our suppliers, technical modeling, and a rigorous third-party critical review of the study, we confirmed without a doubt that our new packaging design was not only better for our customers - in terms of yield and ease - but also in terms of environmental sustainability," Kraft stated.


As of now, the Yes Pack is designed only for Kraft's foodservice salad dressing portfolio.

More information: www.kraftyespack.com or contact s.murphy@pe-international.com

Implementing the sustainable value chain approach in the core of the business

The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan sets out ambitious goals to double the size of the business whilst reducing environmental impact.  Get detailed information background to the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan and how the understanding of the value chain impacts are helping to inform innovation at the core of the business.

Phil McKeown

Phil McKeown is Sustainability Manager at Unilever









Phil McKeown will speak at the Symposium Sustainability across the value chain, Oct. 25-27, 2011 in Stuttgart Germany.

Check out the full agenda & the workshop program and register now!

Now online: Study on “environmental impacts of renewable feedstocks in material use”

Renewable raw materials hold a high potential for energy saving and for CO2 reduction. In particular, the material use of renewables is often underestimated because a lot of products cannot be directly identified as being produced from renewable resources. On behalf of the German Agency for Renewable Resources, a study was conducted to systematically evaluate the environmental performance of renewables in material use and to develop recommendations for a sustainable use of renewable raw materials in the near future.