Not Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) based

Our response:

In the ideal world, all products and services would have a thorough lifecycle assessment (LCA) performed and accurate data would be available independent of the boundaries of reporting organisations.

If LCA’s were performed on all SKUs in store, the cost would run into hundreds of millions of pounds/dollars/euro. Four Leaf has been developed calculating the reduction in footprint achieved by an individual product and its manufacturer over time. This provides a snapshot of changes in environmental efficiencies.

No direct comparison between suppliers

Our response:

We believe that it is not possible to directly compare the performance of suppliers against that of their competitors due to a number of factors:

• reporting boundaries: significant variances in the level of vertical or horizontal integration would skew results, e.g. companies with little integration would likely perform better than those operating cradle to gate or with large reporting boundaries
• diversity of product ranges: those with broad and diverse product ranges may be less efficient in the use of resources
• physical location: many variables e.g. greenhouse gases from use of electricity, vary significantly between differing geographic regions.
• sophistication: it is not reasonable to compare the performance of manufacturers with small cottage type operations with that of multinational corporations.

For these reasons, Four Leaf believes that comparisons between companies will be inherently skewed and have less meaning.  As an example, it would be inappropriate to directly compare data from an English company which processes a variety of differing meats with a boutique venison producer in The Netherlands. Even if both companies used the same amount of electricity per unit measure, the relevant greenhouse gases of the UK company would be many times more than that of their Dutch rival.  The Netherlands operation would be deemed highly environmentally friendly whilst they may not have implemented one proactive eco-strategy. Four Leaf believes that such a system is fundamentally flawed.

Doesn’t take into account the whole supply chain

Our response:

The first stage of Four Leaf concentrates on the manufacturer only. The second stage will extend to all companies which contribute over 20% to the product in value or weight throughout the production process.

Some of the rating parameters seem low

Our response:

Some companies have been slower to implement environmental management systems - many others have focused on the footprint left by their packaging. Ratings have been developed to be fair and equitable with consideration to the current uptake of environmental policies. Average environmental performance has been analysed and form the basis of Four Leaf parameters.

The rating parameters will change after 18 months to reflect higher standards of environmental awareness.

Why isn’t total output measured?

Our response:

Normalised data i.e. per tonne of product, is utilised to negate any variances in stocks produced from year to year. It also reduces the overall intrusiveness to company information and is a measurement utilised in other reports, thus reducing the burden of data collection.

Only one leaf relates to the actual product itself

Our response:

Only the Raw Materials Leaf does relate specifically to the product itself. The three other leaves relate to company information. This provides greater incentive for manufacturers to reduce their entire footprint – not just products ranged in Four Leaf retailers.

There is also the secondary problem of increased difficulty in ensuring accuracy if information regarding energy usage, water and outputs was to be supplied on a per product basis. Data may be inadvertently excluded or subjectively proportioned in such an analysis, leading to skewed results.

Requesting information on a company basis, then normalising to a per tonne measurement to account for productivity changes, provides an accurate assessment of energy, water and outputs of the manufacturer and gives a valuable insight into their environmental strategies.

Doesn’t take into account transportation of products

Our response:

Transportation is not included in stage 1 of Four Leaf . This is a more complicated measurement and requires information throughout the supply chain and not just the manufacturer. It is anticipated that this will be incorporated in Stage 3.

What about the retailers themselves - they aren’t exactly environmentally friendly?

Our response:

The implementation of Four Leaf involves a large financial investment. Retailers who adopt this system and outlay the necessary expenditure are showing their commitment to the environment and customers.

Four Leaf would probably not be the only initiative undertaken by a retailer. Globally, the annual or sustainability reports of most large supermarket chains contain a plethora of strategies adopted as a part of their environmental management strategy.