Why scaling product footprints is key to decarbonize

As we move toward Net Zero, customers now expect to know the impact of every product they purchase. Learn from CO2 AI and Quantis on how companies can respond to these growing requests and leverage product footprints for decarbonization.

Why product-level emissions is important

New standards, regulations, and customer pressure are the primary driving factors behind the rise of product carbon footprints. As an example, the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) is introduced as a regulation that mandates the disclosure of carbon emissions for imported products. It is clear that understanding the entire life cycle of a product and differentiating between product carbon footprint and product environmental footprint is vital.

The need for technology

Manual computation of carbon footprints is slow, inconsistent, and lacking standardization across methodologies. To overcome these limitations, CO2 AI introduced a powerful tool that enables the computation of footprints at scale, efficiently processing thousands of SKUs in minutes. This tool provides reliable data and actionable insights, facilitating the decarbonization of product portfolios.

AI is an integral part of the tool to match million rows of activity data with emission factors. While the tool predominantly focuses on carbon impacts, the future expansion includes incorporating other environmental impacts, demonstrating its potential as a comprehensive solution. Questions surrounding multi-sourcing components and considering downstream emissions and end-of-life factors are also addressed, ensuring holistic analysis throughout the product life cycle.
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A holistic approach towards sustainable product development

Decarbonization requires a comprehensive portfolio strategy, encompassing improving design practices, reevaluating product portfolios, and ensuring effective communication with consumers. Collaborative efforts, both intra- and inter-company, are emphasized as crucial for achieving successful decarbonization initiatives.

With insights from CO2 AI, we embed our sustainability agenda and enable future resilience and opportunity in our products, our supply chain, and everybody’s day-to day activity.

David Croft, Global Head of Sustainability

Reckitt

It's important to engage all stakeholders throughout the product creation process. From R&D engineers utilizing insights from Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to product designers and engineers making decisions on materials and suppliers, involving stakeholders at every stage ensures comprehensive sustainability integration. LCA is already being employed at scale for multiple purposes, such as consumer engagement, eco-design guidelines, and regulatory compliance. Understanding regulations, managing data gaps, and involving business teams early on are identified as key factors when implementing LCA at scale, enabling prioritization of efforts and driving effective change.

Additionally, Quantis introduces the concept of an eco-score visualization, integrated with sales volumes. This visualization assists in identifying priority areas for environmental improvement and optimizing resource allocation.

This enables the consideration of existing product carbon footprints, aiding decision-making processes when developing new products that can reduce overall carbon emissions. By ensuring comprehensive analysis of both existing and new products, companies can make informed choices regarding carbon reduction strategies.