Sep 15 2008
UK-based landscape company, Marshalls plc has today announced that from next month it will have the largest number of officially carbon labelled products, anywhere in the world.
The UK is leading the way in carbon labelling internationally, and Marshalls has been involved with the Carbon Trust’s carbon labelling pilot scheme for the past 18 months.
From October, all of Marshalls’ 503 domestic landscaping products will be carbon labelled using the Carbon Trust’s official Carbon Reduction Label. The label will indicate to consumers the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted from extracting and processing raw materials, manufacturing, distributing, and disposing of these products.
Marshalls is the first company to label its entire range and was the first in the landscaping industry to work with the Carbon Trust’s labelling scheme.
Chris Harrop, Group Marketing Director at Marshalls said: “It was a bold step to commit at this early stage to labelling all of our product range, but we wanted to do this right - from the outset.
“Labelling a few products allows consumers to see the carbon footprint, but it limits the options in terms of choosing a product with a smaller footprint if there’s nothing to compare it to.”
“Marshalls is immensely proud to be the first company to label its entire product range. We are completely committed to reducing our carbon footprint and so working with the Carbon Trust was a natural progression for us – and it clearly demonstrates the continued need for consumers to have environmental data on the products they buy. A single methodology and defined labelling scheme across all industries is key to accelerating consumer confidence and support, and we challenge the rest of the industry to follow.”
As part of its commitment to sustainability, Marshalls was also the first in its industry to launch an online carbon calculator in January last year. The calculator allows customers to measure the carbon impact of their hard landscaping choices and will also be updated with the data from the Carbon Trust.
Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust said: “Our aim with the label has always been to bridge the gap between carbon-conscious businesses and their consumers. By labelling all 503 of its products, Marshalls is not only showing its commitment to reducing its emissions, but giving its consumers the opportunity to factor the carbon impact of a product into their buying decision."
Not just a labelling exercise, the work with the Carbon Trust also demonstrates a commitment from the manufacturer to continue to reduce its carbon emissions. If the company fails to make these reductions over a two-year period then the Carbon Trust will withdraw the label.
The Carbon Trust and Defra have worked with BSI British Standards to develop a UK standard, the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2050, for measuring the embodied greenhouse gas from products and services across their lifecycle that will be applicable to a wide range of sectors and product categories.
Marshalls expects the data back from the Carbon Trust in mid October and will be labelling all its products with immediate effect.