Eco-score: bonus-malus (BM)
A food product’s Eco-score is calculated on the basis of the life cycle analysis of the product category and the additional bonus-malus system, which takes into account 5 extra criteria and awards additional plus and minus points. This allows us to make a distinction between products within the same category when evaluating the ecological impact. Let’s look at the different indicators.
The 5 indicators of the bonus-malus
- Production method
- Origin
- Environmental policy
- Packaging
- Biodiversity
Production method
The bonus-malus assigns pluses or minuses on the basis of the production method of a food product.
Does the product have a sustainability label that points at a sustainable production method? This may result in 5 to 20 plus points.
A label for products that meet the standards of European organic legislation (15 plus points).
An international label for sustainable agriculture. Only applicable to food products, such as bananas, coffee, tea, chocolate and palm oil (10 plus points).
An international label for fair trade with the South (10 plus points).
Aquaculture Stewardship Council, an international label for sustainable farmed fish (10 plus points).
Marine Stewardship Council, an international label for sustainable fish (10 plus points).
A French quality label for, among other things, animal products (10 plus points).
The selection of these labels was based on a recent ADEME study on the reliability of sustainability labels. The points of different labels are added up (up to maximum 20 points). ASC and MSC are an exception: those bonus points cannot be added up.
Origin
Although transport does play a role in the life cycle analysis, the specific origin of a product is not included. The life cycle analysis is based on averages.
That’s why the bonus-malus system also awards points based on the actual origin of the product. This allows us to fine-tune the Eco-score based on the CO₂ impact of its journey. Products can receive a bonus of 0 to 15 points for this criterion. There are no penalties here.
- The usual distance the product has to travel
- The type of transport used (road, rail or sea) between the country of origin and France
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We calculate the distance between the geographical centre of the country of origin and that of Belgium.
If a product is transported by train or by sea, we also include two lorry trips: one from the geographical centre of the country of origin to the nearest port or railway terminal, and one from the destination port or terminal to the centre of Belgium.
Distances are calculated using:
- Road: Google Maps
- Rail: EcoTransIT
- Maritime: Searates
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The CO₂ impact of the transport mode is included in the calculation. The figures used (in grams of CO₂ equivalent per tonne-kilometre) come from Base Carbone (ADEME).
Food products are rarely (0.1%, EuroStat 2016) transported by air, so air traffic is not included in the calculation. For countries outside Europe, we assume 100% maritime transport.
For European countries, the score is weighted based on the average mix of transport modes used between the country of origin and France. For Belgium, no specific data is available, but due to its proximity, we apply the same assumptions.
Country Rail Out Sea Germany 12 % 88 % 0 % Austria 41 % 59 % 0 % Belgium 16 % 84 % 0 % Bulgaria 21 % 38 % 41 % Cyprus 0 % 3 % 97 % Denmark 3 % 37 % 60 % Spain 1 % 82 % 17 % Estonia 4 % 10 % 86 % Finland 1 % 8 % 91 % France 3 % 97 % 0 % Greece 0 % 16 % 84 % Hungary 40 % 60 % 0 % Ireland 0 % 41 % 59 % Italy 16 % 61 % 23 % Latvia 5 % 13 % 82 % Lithuania 13 % 31 % 56 % Luxemburg 9 % 91 % 0 % Malta 0 % 0 % 100 % The Netherlands 7 % 51 % 42 % Poland 26 % 47 % 27 % Portugal 1 % 82 % 17 % Czech Republic 44 % 56 % 0 % Romania 20 % 62 % 18 % United Kingdom 5 % 58 % 37 % Slovakia 51 % 49 % 0 % Slovenia 33 % 44 % 23 % Sweden 5 % 15 % 80 % Swiss 44 % 56 % 0 % Turkey 1 % 29 % 70 % Average freight transport mix to France (Eurostat 2006)
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First, a transport score out of 100 is calculated using the following formula:
score=∑i=1nai∗piscore=i=1∑nai∗pi
where
n is the number of ingredients,
ai is the transport score for the country or fishing zone,
and pi is the percentage of the ingredient present in the recipe.
The sum of the percentages always equals 100. ∑i = 1npi = 100∑i = 1npi= 100
This score is then integrated into the overall Eco-score as a bonus of up to 15 points. It is calculated using the following formula:
Bonus = x∗0.15bonus = x∗0.15
where x corresponds to the transport score.
The packaging of a product helps us to determine and evaluate the origin of ingredients. Useful information includes:
- the origin stated in the list of ingredients
- a protected geographical indication
- a registered designation of origin
- a specific product name guaranteeing origin (this is often the case for cheeses, e.g. Camembert invariably comes from France, Greek feta cheese or Italian Parmesan)
If the origin of an ingredient is not known, the least favourable score is given. Only the origin of the raw materials plays a role when we evaluate the ‘origin’ aspect, not the production location. Due to lack of data, this aspect is not yet included in the calculation of the Eco-Score. The idea is to get more information from suppliers in the future, so that this can also be included in the calculation.
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ADEME (2020). Base Carbone - Transport de marchandises. https://www.bilans-ges.ademe.fr/
OECD/ITF. (2015). The Carbon Footprint of Global Trade, Tackling Emissions from International Freight Transport. https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/cop-pdf-06.pdf
EUROSTAT. (2009). Panorama of Transport. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3217494/5711595/KS-DA-09-001-EN.PDF/9c90d489-5009-4acc-9810-ae39612897d3
FAO. (2020). Matrices du commerce détaillées. FAOSTAT. http://www.fao.org/faostat/fr/#data/TM
MINISTÈRE DE LA TRANSITION ÉCOLOGIQUE ET SOLIDAIRE. (2020). Données sur les flux de marchandises (SitraM) - Année 2015 | Données et études statistiques. https://www.statistiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/donnees-sur-les-flux-de-marchandises-sitram-annee-2015
CIRED, SOLAGRO, EDF R&D, FIRE, & PhiLabs. (2019, janvier). L’empreinte énergétique et carbone de l’alimentation en France de la production à la consommation. http://dina.centre-cired.fr/IMG/pdf/empreinte_carbone_alimentation_en_france_fr_052019.pdf
OECD/ITF. (2015). The Carbon Footprint of Global Trade, Tackling Emissions from International Freight Transport. https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/cop-pdf-06.pdf
ALPIFRET. (2011, décembre). Observatoire des trafics marchandises transalpins. https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/modes/road/doc/2011-12-annual-report-observation-trafics.pdf
Ministerio de Fomento. (2018, mai). Observatorio hispano-francés de Tráfico en los Pirineos - Documento No 8. https://www.mitma.gob.es/recursos_mfom/informe_otp8.pdf
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Environmental policy
The environmental policy of the producing country also affects the Eco-Score. A product can get 5 minus or plus points.
The Environmental Performance Index is used to evaluate this factor. It was developed by universities Yale and Columbia using 32 indicators and reflects the attitude of 180 countries towards the environment. Currently, every product gets five minus points as far as environmental policy is concerned because we do not yet know the origin of all the ingredients.
Packaging
The extent of circularity of the packaging of the end product is also considered. To calculate the Eco-score, we collect information on all parts of the packaging. We look at the size, the material used to make the packaging (e.g. recyclable resources), and how recyclable the packaging is.
The greater the environmental impact of the packaging, the more minus points it gets. Packaging from non-renewable or non-recyclable raw materials can result in up to 15 minus points.
Products without packaging will of course not receive any minus points. This methodology is being further refined for the Belgian market.
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Types of packaging: trays, (individual) pots, boxes and cartons, (individual) bottles, bricks, tins, cans, tubes, (individual) pouches, lids, caps, capsules, sheets, nets, film, bundles, seals, bulk packaging.
Materials used: steel, aluminium, glass, brick, multilayer, cardboard, paper, kraft, wood, cork, wax, ceramic, PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, PLA, PS, other plastic.
In some cases, more information is required to assess recyclability.
- Bottles: colour (transparent, coloured or opaque), sleeve size (partial or full sleeve)
- Plastic: colour (transparent, clear or dark)
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The plastic resin is identified using the following logos on the packaging. If no information is available, we assume HDPE for plastic caps and “Other” (non-recyclable) for all other formats.
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The type of metal is identified using the following logos on the packaging. If no information is available, we assume:
- aluminium for the following formats: trays, cans, bottles, coffee capsules, foils, lids, tubes and caps
- steel for all other formats
Biodiversity
We also take into account the depletion of fish stocks and deforestation. The impact of the biodiversity and eco systems can cause up to 10 minus points.
Gathering bonus-malus information
Whereas a life cycle analysis is very complex, the specific information necessary to award plus or minus points is usually more readily available. For example, on the packaging. Still, sometimes we aren’t always able to find the necessary information there either. Of course, the manufacturer can provide more information or add more on the label to calculate the Eco-score.
The more specific information we have, the correcter the score is. We also want to encourage brands to be transparent and supply the necessary information. Step by step, we are working on gathering more data and thus fine-tuning the method, so that the Eco-score is geared even better to the Belgian market.
More about the Eco-score
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The Eco-score helps you to consume more sustainably. And it helps us to reduce the ecological impact of our own-brand products.
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