The production and sale of grocery products contribute between 21-33 per cent of household consumption greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a report released by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has found.

The report, ‘An initial Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Grocery Products’, has been published today (12 March) by WRAP on behalf of the Product Sustainability Forum (PSF).

Billed as the ‘most comprehensive study of its kind’, the research brings together product lifecycle data from over 150 published studies, as well as from PSF members and industry, and looks at the GHG emissions, product waste, and water, energy and resource use of more than 200 traditional grocery products through their lifecycles.

The analysis found that, in addition to contributing 21-33 per cent to household consumption GHG emissions, the production and sale of grocery products accounted for approximately 24 per cent of ‘abiotic resource depletion impacts’ (the consumption of non-renewable resources that lower availability for future generations).

Detailed assessments of grocery product impacts further found that the most ‘dominant’ groups in terms of detrimental environmental impact include alcoholic drinks, dairy products, meat, fish, poultry and eggs, as well as household products such as laundry and washing up detergents and ‘ambient’ products (items transported and sold at ‘ambient temperatures’), such as cereals and canned goods.

These ‘Top 50’ products are estimated to comprise approximately 80 per cent of the GHG emissions associated with ‘producing, transporting and retailing the grocery products consumed in the UK’ and have now been prioritised by PSF for further research aiming to improve their environmental impacts.

Grocery companies to test products

Several large grocery companies, including The Co-operative Group, Nestle and Sainsbury’s have said that they are now going to test ways they can improve the environmental performance of some of their products.

The pilot projects,known as ‘pathfinders’, will target their efforts to products where the biggest environmental savings can be made, ‘improving the resilience of supply chains’ and helping to ‘manage potential business risks’.

The Co-operative and Nestle will respectively look at waste prevention and resource efficiency measures across potato, milk and chocolate supply chains, while Sainsbury’s will focus on its meat, fish, and poultry products as well as produce.

Nestle is also working on a collaborative project with its principal milk supplier in the UK, First Milk, supported by the PSF to ‘pioneer new working methods’ for resource efficiency.

It is hoped that the findings will be replicated across other fresh produce in the future.

Simplifying goods products ‘saves billions of pounds’

Speaking of the launch of the report, Dr Liz Goodwin, CEO of WRAP and Chair of the PSF, said: “By gaining a better understanding of the products that matter in the context of UK consumption, we can help businesses to prioritise their efforts to improve the environmental performance of their products in areas that will generate the biggest economic and environmental savings.

“This integrated approach enables companies to consider the biggest environmental and cost saving opportunities. By highlighting opportunities for improvement, the PSF is enabling whole supply chains to come together and tackle the hotspots that have been identified.

“By bringing all of the key players into the forum and sharing information they can collectively deliver more sustainable products whilst also identifying what will work best for their own sector or business.”

Speaking of the new ‘pathfinder’ projects, Defra Resource Management Minister, Lord de Mauley, said: “It is great to see major household names leading the way to cut out wasteful food practices in the UK. By simplifying the production of their goods, we know that businesses can save themselves billions of pounds while reducing their environmental impact. We hope this research will inspire other companies to take action to improve their efficiency.”

Richard Lochhead, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, added: “Finding new ways to improve the sustainability of the products they sell and produce is key for both retailers and manufacturers and I welcome this research which gives a comprehensive insight into this issue. I will be keen to learn how the two pathfinder projects, which are taking place in Scotland, develop.”

Managers at The Co-Operative, Sainsbury’s and Nestle have all welcomed the pathfinder projects in supporting their respective sustainability plans.

WRAP has said that it will now use a similar approach to ‘tackling the environmental impacts… of the electrical and home improvement markets’.

The electricals report will be released in ‘coming months’ and the home improvement report will be released ‘later in 2013’.

Any organisation interested in being involved in a pathfinder project should contact WRAP’s Karen Fisher.

Read WRAP's report, ‘An initial Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Grocery Products’.