The brand assigns an environmental rating to 25,000 products, Private label and national brands, distributed in its stores. Intended for consumer information, this Eco-Score is visible on the Carrefour.fr website.
Carrefour is the second brand, after Casino, to embark on the environmental assessment of the products sold on its shelves. Unlike the Nutri-Score, from which he draws inspiration, this environmental display does not appear on product packaging. It can be discovered on the brand’s website, Carrefour.fr. The Eco-Score works on the same principle as the Nutri-Score, nutritional quality indicator of food products which has become a reference in the field. Just like the Nutri-Score, the Eco-Score is a rating expressed by a letter, from A (very low impact) to E (very high impact). “The Eco-Score methodology was designed by a collective of independent key players in the field of consumer product information (tels that Yuka, Open Food Facts, Eco2 initiative, etc). It is freely accessible to the public and was used by Carrefour without modification” explained the Carrefour brand last June in the press release announcing the launch of the Eco-Score.
Product Life Cycle Analysis
The Eco-Score is based on 15 indicators from the ADEME Agribalyse database, a program providing reference data on the environmental impacts of agricultural and food products according to the Life Cycle Analysis methodology.
LCA makes it possible to assess the environmental impact of a product at different stages of its life. : production of raw materials, transformation, transport, sale in store, preparation/cooking, packaging recycling. CO2 emissions are considered, use of water resources, the use of agricultural land, soil pollution and pollution of seas and oceans. “To take into account the diversity of product characteristics and specify as much as possible the analysis of their environmental footprint, additional criteria (organic or not, geographical origin…) are integrated into the calculation to improve or reduce the Eco-score” specifies the brand. Example : a Carrefour wholemeal sandwich bread made from French wheat flour, with only one partially recyclable packaging, is rated 88/100, what classifies it A. A l’inverse, ham chiffonade, from European pork, with two packages, gets grade E.
Environmental rating soon to be mandatory
To know the Eco-Score of the products they buy, consumers are invited to go to carrefour.fr. “This awareness-raising approach allows everyone to favor products with a lower impact on the environment. : products of French origin, in bulk or with recyclable packaging, labeled products (bio, label rouge), which limit overfishing, deforestation…” With its Eco-Score, Carrefour anticipates the environmental rating obligation provided for by the Climate and Resilience law. Food products and textile products will be the first to be affected by the testing of this measure.. The Carrefour brand has also announced that it will make public its first conclusions on the Eco-Score before the end of the year..
