Corrugated manufacturers urge caution

23 March 2007


Fruit and vegetable growers, distributors and retailers should be cautious in their appreciation of sweeping environmental claims based on life cycle assessment studies, according to the European Federation of Corrugated Board Manufacturers. Recently, the results of a generic LCA were used to claim in a very public way that an environmental benefit exists in every case for multi-trip reusable plastics crates over single trip corrugated board systems.

FEFCO bases its position on 16 years of experience in using life cycle assessments to help understand the overall environmental impact of corrugated packaging systems. LCAs have helped the sector develop its philosophy of total concept engineering for corrugated packaging systems, looking at environmental as well as operational and technical performance.

“In the fruit and vegetable sector you need to look at the precise type of produce shipped, the exact source and destination of shipments, the specific logistics options available, and, of course, the potential packaging solutions on offer,” says Anders Hildeman, secretary general of FEFCO. “Then you can do a life cycle assessment on the right scenario, to identify the right solution to minimize carbon and other impacts. With global warming a top priority for consumers and policy makers the world over, we should all take care not to make sweeping scientific claims that do not stand up to scrutiny in every case.”

FEFCO recently stated its willingness to supply business with data needed to analyze individual supply chains on how they can reduce the carbon footprint of their operations. It states: “With increasing emphasis being placed on minimizing the carbon footprint left by different products and business activities, it is essential to have the right perspective and data for the use of LCAs as the basis for business decisions or public policy plans”.

The 6th European Database for Corrugated Board Life Cycle Studies is available on request from FEFCO.



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Tel: +32 (0) 2 626 98 33





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