To Press Releases listLausanne, SWITZERLAND,April 19, 2012
Nestlé Research Center announces a new partnership with CIRAIG (Interuniversity Research Centre for the Life Cycle of Products, Processes and Services), Montréal, Canada, at a press conference held today in Montréal. This alliance, the International Chair in Life Cycle Assessment, comprising partners from both academia and industry, strives to promote sustainability through the scientific Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of products and services.
Nestlé currently uses a life cycle approach to assess key aspects of the environmental performance of its products, including ingredient sourcing, processing and manufacturing, packaging, consumer use of the product and end-of-life of the packaging. LCA is the most broadly accepted scientific methodology to assess and compare the environmental performance of products and services.
CIRAIG is the world’s largest research entity for LCA, leading the transfer of knowledge on sustainable development from academic institutes to key stakeholders and industry partners from a wide range of production sectors. Originally founded in 2001 under the leadership of the École Polytechnique de Montréal in collaboration with Université de Montréal and HEC Montréal, Canada, CIRAIG now includes ten Chairs, three Research Centres, a research group and a laboratory.
The collaboration with CIRAIG will help Nestlé researchers to continue focusing on forward-thinking and scientifically-based methodologies for LCA. The collaboration aims to align academia and industry partners and to enhance communication with consumers, thereby promoting informed decision making around environmental sustainability.
“As the only multinational food company in the CIRAIG collaboration, we are eager to expand our knowledge and capabilities in the use of life cycle assessment and ecodesign tools to improve the environmental performance of our products,” said Dr. Urs Schenker, Nestlé scientist involved in the collaboration.
Nestlé scientists discuss the life cycle assessment of various packaging materials
Nestlé is already using ecodesign tools, based on the LCA methodology, to gather data early in the product development process. Effectively applying this knowledge in product design and packaging provides scientific support to advance Nestlé’s policy on environmental sustainability and the development of products with improved environmental performance.
"This partnership with CIRIAG will help us to continue building and improving our sustainability tools and methodologies," said Dr. Christian Saclier, Head of the Packaging Science and Environmental group at the Nestlé Research Center. "We will use these methodologies throughout Nestlé markets worldwide, and that is a huge step towards sustainable production."
Related Article
Nina Peacock, Camillo De Camillis, David Pennington, Herbert Aichinger, Alberto Parenti, Jean-Pierre Rennaud, Andrea Raggi, Frank Brentrup, Balázs Sára and Urs Schenker, et al. Towards a harmonised framework methodology for the environmental assessment of food and drink products. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2011, 16(3), 189-197. DOI: 10.1007/s11367-011-0250-5
Related Links
CIRAIG
Life Cycle Initiative
United Nations Environment Programme