LANCASHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM — Global grocery store Tesco had pledged to label all 70,000 of its products with their carbon footprints. However the retailer's now debating whether or not to continue upholding this commitment, with the firm blaming the amount of work involved and the fact that other shop's failed to follow its lead. The news comes as Tesco ranked 93rd out of over 2,000 participants in the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Scheme last year.
Tesco's carbon-label scheme was announced in 2007 when Sir Terry Leahy, the chief executive, promised to put carbon labels on thousands of their items. The plan, which was dubbed a "revolution in green consumption", would involve products such as toilet roll, milk and orange juice having their production emissions recorded for the British public to see.
Nevertheless, the supermarket has revealed that it is considering ditching the green programme, stating that they expected other retailers to follow giving it "critical mass but it hasn't happened." Tesco also attributed the scrap to several months' work that was required to calculate each product's footprint.
A spokesperson from Tesco told The Guardian that it was phasing out the labels but that the store still planned on providing carbon information on some products. They said: "We are fully committed to carbon foot printing and helping our customers make greener choices. No final decision has yet been made, and we are always on the lookout to find even better ways to communicate the carbon impact of products in a way that informs and empowers customers."
The spokesperson from the body that created the carbon label, the Carbon Trust, said that it was "clearly disappointed" at the news. Other brands which are continuing to use the carbon footprint labels include PepsiCo on its Walker crisp packets and Tropicana orange juice cartons, Dyson, and Kingsmill.
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Source: Apollo Enviro
