Global framework set to harmonise thinking on product lifecycle

The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) has entered into a strategic alliance with the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) to develop a single global framework for product lifecycle impacts.

As the consumer goods industry continues to drive sustainability throughout the supply chain, there is an increasing need for an internationally harmonised science-based approach to measure and communicate product lifecycles.

The framework will enable information on product lifecycle analysis to be disseminated and shared between companies, regulators, consumers, and chief sustainability officers.

It will also improve sustainability performance by building in transparency and better understanding into the environmental impacts of individual consumer products and their lifecycles.

The alliance has been endorsed by Unilever’s chief sustainability officer Gail Klintworth who said it would act as a key driver to help companies reduce carbon emssions while improving the environmental footprints of products they sell.

“The vision is for us to help consumers make more sustainable choices about the products they buy – empowering them to become active agents as we take on the challenge of living and growing within our natural planetary boundaries,” she added.

Under the agreement, TSC and CGF will accelerate the development and implementation of the framework and look to harmonise it with similar initiatives that CGF is already actively engaged on.

The CGF is a global industry network comprising more than 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers and other stakeholders. CGF companies have already made significant progress in assessing greenhouse gas impacts of their operations and the framework will look to tie in with this.

The TSC meanwhile represents some of the world’s largest suppliers and retailers, non-profit and government organisations, and leading academic institutions in the area of product sustainability.

Its goal is to design and implement transparent and scalable science-based measurement and reporting systems that will be accessible for all producers and users of consumer products.

Maxine Perella