One of the challenges of managing & improving the carbon footprint of a product
is measuring it accurately in the first place. A second, even more difficult challenge
is scope. How far up the supply chain can you measure your impact? In today's complex
global supply chains, even gaining access to the information needed to measure carbon
becomes very difficult. This is often referred to as the "Scope III" emissions.
It represents all those indirect emissions upstream in the supply chain of your
product.
The tough reality is that for most products, 80-90% of the overall carbon footprint
of a product occurs upstream in the supply chain. And almost no one measures them.
When you see carbon footprint information, it's invariably only the direct emissions
associated with production of the finished product, and therefore, an incomplete
picture of the real carbon footprint.
We use Rapid Carbon Modelling, a software tool developed by Planet Metrics, which
uses lifecycle data overlaid with macro-economic data to fill in gaps and give an
accurate picture of a product's total carbon footprint.
The important thing about this capability is what it allows us to do. By looking
at "heatmaps" of our full supply chain impact, like the one here, we can see exactly
where our impacts are, and build our strategies around where we can make the biggest
improvements.
The reason this is so important is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to
carbon footprint reduction. As you can see from this example, the majority of the
impact of method's Squeaky Green Laundry Detergent is in the detergent itself, while
in our All Purpose wipes, it's in the packaging. Most companies simply focus on
one attribute - packaging reduction, using more natural ingredients - and as this
example shows, a unilateral strategy means sometimes you're focused on the wrong
things. This modelling capability allows method to focus on different activities
with different products to achieve maximum benefit. It's like having x-ray vision
into your supply chain.
In a recent example illustrated below, the modelling process revealed that our new
super-concentrated method laundry detergent
has a carbon footprint 35% lower than a typical 2x detergent. In another example,
we switched the packaging of our multi surface wipes from the traditional canister
style that everyone uses, to a lightweight flat pack. From modelling the carbon implications
of that change, we know that we reduced the total carbon footprint of the product
by 65%.
For more information on Planet Metrics, go to www.planetmetrics.com
