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MPS is involved in the development of a standardised methodology for an internationally accepted environmental footprint of horticultural products.
Based on this method, a tool will be developed with which growers participating in MPS-ABC can easily calculate the environmental impact of their production process and products. This gives you, as a grower, insight into where there is still room for improvement within the business process with regard to the environmental impact and how it compares to comparable products. We will of course keep you informed of the developments regarding this tool.
The report ‘HortiFootprint Category Rules’ was presented on July 21, 2020. The corresponding press release can be found below.
PRESS RELEASE
Zoetermeer 21 July 2020 – On 20 July 2020 a consortium of companies presented the report ‘HortiFootprint Category Rules’ (HFCR). This report contains calculation rules for calculating an environmental footprint of horticultural products for both ornamentals and fruit and vegetables. The methodology is as far as possible in line with European directives and aims to arrive at an objective and standardised methodology for calculating the environmental footprint of horticultural products.
The document is primarily intended for professionals in the horticultural sector who are involved in sustainability determinations according to the Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) methodology and contains unambiguous calculation rules for the fifteen impact categories in the calculation of the environmental footprint at product level. Examples include the environmental impact of production on climate, land use and resource depletion. Applying the calculation rules provides insight into the environmental impact of the product, where there is room for improvement within the business process and how the environmental footprint compares to comparable products.
The consortium hopes that companies will embrace the methodology and think along with them about further development at European level within the ‘Product Environmental Category Rules (PEFCR)’ of the European Commission. Within this framework, the consortium will continue to work on European recognition in the coming years, with floriculture being selected as an official trajectory in the European ‘transition phase’ for PEFCR.
Objective substantiation
With its unambiguous calculation rules, the report provides an answer to the growing need for a standardised, objective and scientifically substantiated assessment of the environmental impact of horticultural products throughout the entire chain from ‘soil to mouth’ or from ‘farm to fork’, in order to remain in European Green Deal terms. “The publication of these Hortifootprint Category Rules is an important step towards providing insight into sustainability in an integrated manner within the sector. Our members and customers can now make the environmental footprint transparent for their own products and use it within their chain for efforts and discussions about sustainability,” says Daan van Empel, GroentenFruit Huis and Albert Haasnoot of Royal FloraHolland.