Marshalls reveal carbon footprints
MARSHALLS plc have this week released official data showing the carbon footprints of every item in their domestic product range. The announcement makes Marshalls one of the world’s leading companies in terms of carbon labelling, with the largest number of products labelled in this way anywhere in the world.
In an industry first, customers will now be able to compare the Carbon Reduction Labels across the company’s entire range of 503 hard landscaping products and make their purchasing decisions based on their carbon impact. The labels show the volume of all greenhouse gases emitted during the product’s lifecycle.
The data is the result of an 18-month pilot with the Carbon Trust’s labelling programme, as a result of which Marshalls have been awarded independent certification to PAS 2050 (an international measurement method developed by BSI British Standards, the Carbon Trust and Defra), allowing the footprints across the company’s product range to be compared against one another.
Chris Harrop, group marketing director at Marshalls, said: ‘An important part of the work with the Carbon Trust was the decision to label the entire range. We wanted to ensure that consumers were able to make real comparisons and educated decisions about the carbon impact of their product choice, and this can only be done if an entire range is labelled.’
Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, commented: ‘If we are to meet this country’s emission-reduction targets by 2050, we need innovative businesses to lead the way in their industries. Marshalls have already shown this leadership and their commitment to tackling climate change through their pilot of the Carbon Reduction Label, supported by the PAS 2050 footprinting method.’
Jonathon Porritt, programme director of the Forum for the Future and chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, added his support for Marshalls commitment to carbon labelling. ‘This is exactly the kind of leadership we need to see a lot more of in this and other sectors,’ he said.
