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ECOLAC. LIFE13 ENV/ES/00615. LAYMAN’S REPORT

Ecolac

Prevention of dairy product’s environmental impact through ecodesign

LIFE13 ENV/ES/00615

Ecodesigned dairy products: less environmental impact, greater productive efficiency w w w . l i f e e c o l a c . e s

Background Today, nearly one-third of the food produced in the world is thrown away or wasted. Furthermore, the food and drink value chain in the EU is directly responsible for 17 % of the total greenhouse gases produced and 28 % of the material resources used. It is also responsible for 60 % of terrestrial biodiversity losses, 33 % of soil degradation and overexploitation of 20 % of the water resources. Within this sector, meat and dairy products are the two sub-sectors that have the greatest environmental impacts; it is estimated that milk, cheese and butter contribute to global warming by around 4 %.

The LIFE ECOLAC project was born within this framework with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of dairy products, from raw milk production to final consumer sales.

As more than 80 % of the environmental impact that a product will have is determined in the design phase, the project has developed a software tool that will make it easier for the dairy industry to design products with less environmental impacts, i.e. ECO-DESIGN products.

The existing tools to date are focused on the more scientific sectors involving environmental impact assessment, and therefore implemen-

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ting these tools in the production environment is difficult. This new tool is specifically adapted to the dairy sector, and it helps to define a company’s environmental strategy.

For this reason the LIFE ECOLAC project has identified consumer buying motivations in order to generate sustainability claims and it has also carried out an in-depth study of consumer behaviours when faced with eco-designed products.

Goals The main goals of the LIFE ECOLAC were to: • Prevent and reduce the environmental impact associated with new dairy products.

• Promote the implementation of ecodesign strategies for foodstuffs by using a software tool adapted to the dairy industry.

• Design a new dairy product with less environmental impact.

• Actively raise awareness among consumers to encourage responsible purchasing.

Main activities The main activities carried out as part of the LIFE ECOLAC project were: • To put together an expert panel formed by the key players in the dairy sector value chain in order to validate the project’s actions and results. Representatives from the packaging, farming, consumer, industry, and large-scale distribution sectors, as well as administrations and scientific bodies have been involved in such panel.

• To identify consumer motivations in relation to sustainability, eco-design and responsible purchasing.

• To identify the stages and aspects of dairy products that have the greatest environmental impact.

• To develop and implement a software tool that allows dairy products with less environmental impact to be designed.

• To demonstrate and validate the tool.

• To develop an eco-designed prototype dairy product.

• To analyse consumer behaviour when faced with eco-designs.

• To raise awareness and communicate the project results at international conferences, technical and scientific conferences, and to involve actors from the dairy and food sector value chain through the Expert Panels.

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Main results obtained The main results obtained have been the following: 1. ECOLAC Software A main outcome of the LIFE ECOLAC project has been the development of a software tool that allows environmental impact assessments to be done based on LCA methodology. In addition, this tool also allows new environmental improvement scenarios to be created and compared, therefore focussing the decision-making on those strategies that actually reduce the environmental impact of the products. The main benefits of the tool are: • Environmental impact assessment using the methodology proposed by the European Union to calculate the environmental footprint of the product.

• Production data collection is simplified as the tool can be linked to other company management systems (e.g. SAP) and data can be directly imported.

• Eco-design of new products: Analysis and comparison of hypothetical impro-

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vement scenarios in order to guide the decision-making toward strategies with less environmental impact.

• Evaluation of economic costs in the manufacturing cycle: Calculation of the costs of the resources (energy, water, raw materials and packaging materials, waste and waste water management required to manufacture the product).

• Versatility: the tool has been developed, programmed and designed so that it can be adapted to other food sectors.

2. New eco-designed product

focus group dynamics. The results were that consumers do still not know about the concepts of “sustainability” and “eco-design” and they do not trust the environmental claims promoted by private brands. The outcomes of both studies are completely aligned and they highlight the need to carry out powerful consumer education campaigns on environmental issues to clarify basic concepts and to encourage purchasing based on objective values that are backed by the administration.

The prototype of a new yoghurt has been designed and produced (using a plastic with a lower environmental footprint) with the help of the new tool. The improvements that have been identified and implemented are: • Replacement of packaging material.

• Replacement of packaging equipment.

• Optimisation of production cycles.

• Optimisation of transport routes.

The production of this eco-designed yoghurt consumes 4 % less water and 2 % less natural gas.

In this way, several awareness-raising actions aimed at consumers have been carried out on sustainability and eco-design matters through two articles in the QUO magazine and the Eroski Consumer website, respectively.

3. Consumer motivations In order to identify the key factors that affect purchase decisions, the main consumer purchasing motivations have been identified, where product quality has proved to be the main purchasing factor.

According to the results, the category “sustainable” provides added value at the time a product is purchased, but it is not a determining factor. In addition, once the new eco-designed yoghurt was produced, a study on consumer behaviour has been carried out following a qualitative

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Expected benefits and target sectors The expected benefits in response to the target sectors are: Dairy industry: • Identify the causes and origins of the main environmental impacts.

• Direct future improvement actions to reduce the most relevant environmental impacts.

• Increase the production efficiency of the dairy industry.

• Reduce the environmental impacts associated with the production of dairy products throughout the life cycle.

• Compare hypothetical scenarios to evaluate the improvement strategies or actions before making any changes/investments.

• Improve corporate image before the administration and society in general.

• Improve relations with the main stakeholders (customers, suppliers, regulatory boards, the media, etc.).

• Differentiate from competitors.

• Access to new market niches.

• Facilitate environmental management and compliance with current regulations.

• Anticipate future regulatory requirements on environmental sustainability (EC

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product environmental footprint) and/or carbon footprint.

• Implementation of ISO14001 or other certifications.

Administrations: • Promote the implementation of the Product Environmental Footprint calculation as established in COM/2013/179/EU. • Provide tools to develop policies with environmental responsibility criteria.

• Actual information on consumer understanding of “sustainability”, “eco-design” and “eco-labelling” concepts as a basis for establishing a consumer awareness plan on a large scale.

Consumers and the society: • Actual and objective information about the main consumer purchasing motivations to design food products that meet their requirements.

• Consumer awareness and training in sustainability and eco-design issues to promote a responsible shopping cart and to have more confidence about eco-labelled products.

Impact The results obtained have been widely broadcast at different national and international events.

• Oral presentations at conferences: LCA Food 2016, ENVIFOOD 2016, TRANSFIERE 2017, BASQUE ECODESIGN MEETING 2017.

• Posters at conferences: Alfaro B., Jauregi L., Rios Y., Etxebarria S. and Ramos S. Consumer’s attitude, understanding and motivation regarding sustainable food products, EUROSENSE 2016.

• Informative articles on consumer awareness (QUO magazine, on-line Consumer magazine).

• Project dissemination seminars: 1st meeting of the working group on R&D and innovation for containers and packaging in the dairy sector 2015, EDA Food and Environment Committee (FEPC) Meeting 2015, International Dairy Day 2015/2016/2017, International Food Fair Barcelona 2016, etc.

• 3 Expert Panels held to present and validate the results (January 2014, November 2015 and April 2017).

• Contact and information submission to over 100 bodies or companies to disseminate results and co-operation (project brochure, newsletters).

• 29 impacts, including press releases.

• More than 22,000 visits to the project website.

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Partners

PROJECT COORDINATOR. AZTI, an expert technology centre in marine and food innovation, with over 30 years experience and international presence in over 45 countries, boasts a team of over 230 experts, aimed at shaping ideas that, once transformed into products and services, generate business initiatives and recover and preserve natural resources. It carries out strategic and applied research in an international context providing comprehensive and innovative solutions for its clients in the marine environment and food chain. Transforming science into value and wealth for the society of today and tomorrow is the hallmark of AZTI.

CAPSA (Central Lechera Asturiana, Larsa, ATO and Innova Food Ingredients) is the leading company in the Spanish dairy market which has 7 production centres distributed across the whole of Spain, directly employing more than 1300 people. In 2017 it was recognised as the company with the best reputation in Spain according to the REPTRAK study by the Reputation Institute, and it is the first Spanish food company with the European Seal of Excellence 500+ awarded by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and the Management Excellence Club (CEG).

INGENET is a company founded in 1997 that specialises in industrial software, with headquarters in Orozko (Bizkaia) and a delegation in Chile. Its scope of activity focuses on the following areas: Development of custom-built applications to capture and process plant data (DataPlant), automation and robotics, artificial vision, ultrasound and acoustics. Ingenet has positioned itself in the past few years as a strategic company in various industrial sectors: food, steel, glass (hollow and flat), automotive, galvanising, animal feed, rail, mining, etc.

The Spanish National Federation of Dairy Industries (FeNIL) integrates more than 60 companies in the sector, which represent more than 95% of the national production of dairy products. The main objectives of FeNIL are to promote the consumption of milk and dairy products due to their health and nutritional qualities; to reinforce the belief among consumers that dairy products are good, and to communicate the diversity of dairy products existing in the market.

Duration of the project: 01/07/2014 - 30/09/2017 Total budget: â‚Ź1,452,503 49.78 % co-financed with the EU http://www.lifeecolac.es Contact person: LIFE13 ENV/ES/00615

Susana Etxebarria setxebarria@azti.es Tel: +34 667 174 292