An Impact Perspective Labels, Standards & Certifications Lynne - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

An Impact Perspective Labels, Standards & Certifications Lynne Olson, Ph.D.

The Problem Which is more sustainable?  Made from a renewable  made of polyethylene, a  most commonly made petroleum-based resource resource (trees) from cotton (fossil-fuel- intensive)  hold twice the contents of  consumes 40% less energy to most plastic bags produce than paper.  cotton growers use more than 10 percent  takes about a month to  generates 80% less solid of the world's decompose waste than paper bags pesticides and nearly 25 percent of the  21% of paper bags are  can take 1,000 years to world's insecticides currently recycled decompose  most are woven outside  fewer than 5% of plastic bags the U.S. where labor is are recycled less costly Credit: Tim Smith,  60 to 80 percent of ocean  Increased fossil fuels in Ph.D. UMN (NorthStar debris is plastic - poisoning or transportation strangling marine life Initiative for Sustainable  %#*&!, forgot it again… Enterprise)

3 The Solution Proposed Objectives for Deciding What is Sustainable Purchasing Framework Guide purchasing decisions that:  Have an positive impact on the facility  Are measureable & comparable  Accessible and “simple”  Strategic (address the important stuff)  Avoid undesirable tradeoffs - e.g. paper vs. cotton

4 Current State Labels, Standards & Certifications in Purchasing Product Level Product Level Facility Level Regulatory Requirement Business Requirement Options EU Detergent Regulation Internal Operations / Manufacturing External Food Grade Building / Packaging Destination NSF/ANSI 60 Drinking Water Standard

5 Benefits Labels, Standards & Certifications in Purchasing  Sustainability is Complex  Shifts responsibility for evaluating complex human health and environmental requirements to external organization  Creates documentation for external validation – e.g. LEED, Bids  Communication of Sustainability Requirements  Often not Defined by Procurement  Eco-Certifications are easily specified in bids  Check the box Only Tool Available, Accessible & Easy

6 Limitations Labels, Standards & Certifications in Purchasing End of Sourcing, Mfr. Distribution Use Phase Life  Only part of the impacts are considered - Operational safety Ecolab Total Impact View - Water use - Energy use - Waste/Assets/Air Impacts  Limited product categories.  Yet, broad range of products required to run a facility  Unclear Connection between the standard and impacts  GHG, water, waste …..????  Can the impacts be measured and compared?  Are there tradeoffs? (Paper bags ----- Cotton bags….)

7 Next Step - Evolution Is there a way to broaden our perspective? End Sourcing, Mfr. Use Phase of Distribution Life  Suppliers  User health &  Environmental safety Impacts  Feedstock's & byproducts  User Resources  Corporate  System footprint Performance

8 Standards Gaps in Life Cycle Impact View End Sourcing, Mfr. Use Phase of Distribution Life  Suppliers  User health &  Environmental safety Impacts  Feedstock's & byproducts  User Resources  Corporate  System footprint Performance

9 Use Phase is Important! Examples Use Phase Facility Water Waste Energy Asset Air Yuengling Brewery (CIP) 950,000 Gal/yr Baymont Inn & Suites, 242,000 74% less 610 Bryon Center MI Gal/yr plastic therms/yr (Laundry) (3.1 metric tones CO2 Protein Plant Improved Redu (water process treatment) Water ced Quality Odor $155,938 in surcharges

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11 Life Cycle Analysis Not Clear, Accessible or Easy End Sourcing, Mfr. Use Phase of Distribution Life  Suppliers  User health &  Environmental safety Impacts  Feedstock's & byproducts  User Resources  Corporate  System footprint Performance

12 Gaps Life Cycle Impacts Comparison Standards End of Sourcing, Mfr. Distribution Use Phase Life LCA (cradle to gate) End of Sourcing, Mfr. Distribution Use Phase Life Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) ? End of Sourcing, Mfr. Distribution Use Phase Life

13 Vision Develop an Effective yet Simple Lifecycle Impacts EPD End of Sourcing, Mfr. Distribution Use Phase Life Procurement Level Roll up  GHG  Water  Waste

14 Summary Impact Perspective  Problem  data – data driven, sustainable, procurement decisions  Today, standards and LCA’s have a limited view  Future vision – consider impacts across product life cycle  Define and prioritize impacts  Measurable and comparable  Roll up to facility level Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) ? End of Sourcing, Mfr. Distribution Use Phase Life

15 15 Bringing unlimited resourcefulness to the challenge of limited resources. For more information, visit www.Ecolab.com/csr