KnowledgeKnowledge blogHow product carbon footprinting can be efficient, less complex and less costly
How product carbon footprinting can be efficient, less complex and less costly
In today's business environment, measuring your product’s carbon footprint is becoming increasingly important. Companies face mounting pressures from regulatory bodies, customers, and other stakeholders to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability. However, many businesses encounter significant challenges when trying to measure their product’s carbon footprint, including limited resources, difficulty accessing impact data, time constraints, high costs, and the need to keep up with ever-changing regulations. In this blog post, we will explore these challenges and discuss how modern solutions can make product carbon footprinting more efficient, less complex, and more cost-effective.
Updated on: September 9th, 2024
4 min reading time
Product Carbon Footprints
A product carbon footprint measures the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by your product throughout its life cycle. Leveraging Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, various carbon emission sources can be analyzed, including production, transportation, and disposal. This process prompts key questions: Which emission sources should we prioritize? How do we calculate the carbon footprint without expert sustainability knowledge? What are the costs of using specialized software?
Don’t worry—LCA tools simplify the process. As carbon reduction becomes increasingly critical due to climate change and international sustainability goals, more solutions are available to help businesses achieve their carbon reduction targets in an affordable and feasible way.
Challenges of traditional product footprinting
Limited Resources – No resources to measure product carbon footprints: Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) often struggle with limited resources for thorough product footprinting, making it challenging to dedicate and prioritize sustainability efforts.
Inaccessible Data – Collecting primary data on the materials and processes behind your product is essential for accurate product carbon footprinting. However, deciphering this primary data can be complicated and challenging, especially for SMEs with limited resources for data collection.
Time Consuming – Traditional methods involve long wait times due to constant back-and-forth with consultants. These consultants typically lack in-house product knowledge and require meticulous coordination for continuous improvement. Collecting data, analyzing it, and compiling reports is time-consuming, diverting resources from other essential business operations.
High Costs – Hiring external consultants is expensive, with costs reaching up to tens of thousands of euros for one product footprint.
Regulatory Pressure – Keeping up with evolving regulations is a constant challenge. Companies must ensure compliance with current standards while preparing for future changes, which is difficult with limited resources and expertise to prioritize product footprinting efforts.
No Ownership – Relying on consultants means you don’t own your product carbon footprinting process. Any changes must go through them, limiting your control.
How to do it The Right Way
Modern Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) software solutions offer an efficient, less complex, and more cost-effective approach to product carbon footprinting. These tools address the challenges of traditional methods and provide a practical path forward for businesses of all sizes.
A Solution for Efficient Product Carbon Footprinting
At Ecochain, our software, Mobius, exemplifies this approach, delivering several key benefits:
Business-User-Friendly – Designed for business users, not just LCA experts. Even without a background in sustainability, you’ll gain fast, actionable insights.
Access to Secondary Data – Using LCA software allows access to comprehensive databases of secondary impact data, simplifying the product carbon footprinting process by reducing the need for extensive primary data collection.
Fast & Easy – Easy-to-use software that lets you quickly model your products and share environmental impact data with stakeholders, enhancing transparency.
Cost-Effective – More affordable than hiring consultants, giving you control and efficiency.
Future-Proof – Provides a comprehensive view of multiple impact categories, beyond carbon or GHG emissions. You can assess effects on biodiversity and pursue continuous improvement through scenarios and comparison features, preparing you for future regulatory changes.
Own Your Data – Take complete ownership of your product carbon footprint, eliminating the need for back-and-forth with consultants and long wait times.
Reimagining carbon footprinting with Ecochain Mobius Carbon
Curious how much easier product footprinting can be? Check out these two customer success stories showcasing how Ecochain Mobius helped reduce their products’ carbon impact!
Skullcandy
Mission
World-renowned audio technology company Skullcandy began its sustainability journey by partnering with us and using our software, Ecochain Mobius, to understand the environmental footprint of their main product categories and reduce their impact.
Skullcandy uncovered significant insights:
Wireless Headphones: Highest impact at 14.2 kg CO2-eq due to size and material requirements. Wireless Earbuds: Impact of 5.9 kg CO2-eq, sharing many components with the headphones. Wired Earbuds: Smallest footprint at 0.5 kg CO2-eq, thanks to compact size and lack of batteries.
Ecochain Mobius identified key impact hotspots:
Wireless Products: Batteries and electrical engineering parts. Wired Products: Plastics and packaging.
Solution to Reducing Their Product’s Impact
Armed with this data, Skullcandy created smaller and more efficient batteries. This was even implemented in their bestselling Dime true wireless earbuds, reducing the impact of their to just 2.4 kg CO2-eq.
Future Plans
Skullcandy plans to calculate the carbon footprint of all their products, compare them to alternatives, and refine their designs using insights from Ecochain Mobius. This ensures sustainability is central to Skullcandy’s future innovations.
ZeroPackaging, an initiative by Paxpring, designs eco-friendly packaging for clients like Samsung, Fairphone, and Vodafone. They partnered with us and used Ecochain Mobius to reduce Vodafone’s product impact.
Product Footprint Insights
Using Ecochain Mobius, ZeroPackaging integrated impact measurement into their design process, continuously testing and learning about the footprint of new processes and materials.
Key Impact Hotspots
Ecochain Mobius identified key impact hotspots, allowing ZeroPackaging to make sustainable design choices. The software’s intuitive interface and visualization capabilities enabled effective communication of environmental data to customers.
Solution to Reducing Product’s Impact
Vodafone sought ZeroPackaging’s more sustainable signature package – where the packaging was designed smaller and plastic-free, reducing the carbon footprint by 48% without compromising functionality.
Future Plans
With Ecochain Mobius, ZeroPackaging provides carbon footprint and LCA impact outcomes for their designs, enabling sustainable decision-making. They continuously improve and deepen their eco-friendly design choices.
Measuring your product’s carbon footprint is essential for staying competitive and relevant in today’s economy. While traditional methods can be challenging and costly, modern LCA software solutions offer an efficient, less complex, and cost-effective alternative. By starting small and opting for these solutions, you can embark on your sustainability journey, ensure regulatory compliance, and maintain long-term sustainability efforts.
Ready to transform your product footprinting? Explore LCA software like Ecochain Mobius to streamline your sustainability efforts and start making a positive impact today. We’re here to help you every step of the way.
Reimagining carbon footprinting with Ecochain Mobius Carbon
As a content marketer with a passion for sustainability, I'm driven to create informative resources that empower businesses to embrace innovation and practices that prioritize environmental well-being
Aleksandra Melekhina | September 9th, 2024
Understanding product carbon impact – a guide for businesses
Understanding product carbon impact is key to reducing waste without compromising on quality. Here’s how to understand it and decrease your carbon footprint.