Wednesday, January 8, 2025

[conference] How to measure a packaging’s environmental footprint?

The need to calculate the environmental footprint of packaging and processes has brands and suppliers increasingly turning to Life Cycle Analyses (LCA) tools. For luxury players, LCAs are still challenging to apprehend.

Jade Garcia, Director at Scorela, works with her clients to better understand and integrate LCA tools. “We help companies sort through the different types of LCAs, how these variants are evolving and how they can optimize their practices on a daily basis. A LCA is currently the best way to evaluate a product’s impact on the environment; our job is to look at the entire value chain and evaluate where there is room for improvement.”

There is strong demand today for LCAs focusing on eco-design. It’s a way of understanding where we can act and avoid transferring impact from one packaging component to another.
Régis COURTIN, Founder of DONNONS DU SENS

For Régis Courtin, Founder of Donnons du Sens, LCAs specialized in eco-design are picking up speed and he sees this trend accelerating as “the tool presents a clear understanding of where a company needs to act in order to avoid transferring impact from one packaging component to another.”

While tools focused on measuring carbon footprint currently top the list, industry players are seeking growing interest “all-in-one” solutions. “LCAs have to take into account a product’s global scenario, which should include consumer usage and the potential evolutions in usage,” affirmed Sophie Labroussemolla, Head of Packaging R&D at Groupe Rocher. “More brands are offering refillable solutions, for example, but not all consumers are ready for that format, so in the end it could be counterproductive. And let’s be realistic, if we launch a refill on the market, it’s so that consumers will buy them!” pointed out Adeline Houcke Leriche, Development Director at Lancôme.

Ask yourselves the question: why are you conducint a Life Cycle Analysis? That’s the starting point and that will dictate which tool to work with.
Sophie LABROUSSEMOLLA, Head of Packaging R&D GROUPE ROCHER

At L’Oréal, some 8,000 products are launched or revamped every year— too high a number for the group to work with an external LCA tool, says Houcke Leriche. “We developed our own in-house evaluation tool, SPOT, in 2017. This takes into account 14 parameters of impact and today is used by all of the group’s brands.” A recent packaging redesign for Lancôme’s Absolu Rouge lipstick illustrated the importance of measuring impact. “The original product was in aluminum, and we switched to plastic and in a refillable format. Despite preconceived notions about the environmental impact of plastic, in this case it significantly improved the product’s environmental score.” Labroussemolla agrees: “Plastic is getting a bad rap these days, but our analyses show that plastic often comes out ahead compared to other materials”.

So what are the potential pitfalls of LCAs? “It has its limits,” warned Labroussemolla. “It’s a tool and a guide, but a comprehensive strategy should be the starting point. A LCA doesn’t define the standards and the applicable framework”. Add to this the constantly evolving environmental norms, which companies must take into account and integrate into their scoring systems.

Article based on the How to measure a packaging’s environmental footprint conference with Sophie LABROUSSEMOLLA, Head of Packaging R&D – GROUPE ROCHER, Régis COURTIN, Founder DONNONS DU SENS, Jade GARCIA, Director– SCORE LCA, Adeline HOUCKE, Development Director – LANCÔME