Eco-design shapes product innovation and development

Namy Espinoza-Orias of Nestlé describes the company’s Sustainability by Design process, showing how it has been used to improve environmental performance.

Nestlé has adopted a systematic process to integrate sustainability in its research and development, embedding sustainability across Nestlé’s businesses. In Research and Development this means improving the sustainability performance of the next generation of products by acting on the product innovation and development process. The earlier that sustainability is addressed in the product design process, the lower the cost of change and the higher the design freedom to innovate (Figure 1).

The Nestlé Sustainability by Design process was introduced with the objective of systematically assessing and optimising the environmental performance of products and packaging across the entire value chain. Throughout the various product categories and businesses, the Sustainability by Design network champions within each R&D centre drive the implementation of the eco-design process to improve product and process innovation and/or renovation. The eco-design process starts with the mandatory sustainability rating of projects, whereby the sustainability champion and the project manager review the project brief and identify relevant environmental aspects across the product life cycle. The environmental performance is then quantified using the eco-design tool EcodEX^[1].

EcodEX, a simplified eco-design tool developed and commercialised by Selerant, an Italian IT firm, is based on life cycle assessment (LCA). It is customised for the assessment It is customised for the assessment of food products and packaging and guides a non-specialist user across the relevant phases of the life cycle of a typical food product from agriculture right through all the steps to consumer use and final disposal. It uses life cycle inventory (LCI) datasets sourced mostly from published LCI databases, such as ecoinvent^[2] and the World Food LCA Database^[3] (a project led by Quantis SARL and Agroscope - the database will become available to users of ecoinvent from 2016-17). The tool calculates five environmental impact indicators based on published and widely accepted life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods: greenhouse gas emissions, nonrenewable energy & minerals, land use, water use and ecosystems quality. These indicators were selected as being particularly relevant for the assessment of packaged food products.

The results of the eco-design assessments substantiate the rating of projects on a five-point scale ranging from considerably negative to considerably beneficial. The rating triggers discussions and ideas which can lead to actions to optimise the product environmental performance. Further eco-design iterations improve the rating, generate additional key information to support decision makers during the progression of the project and improve the outcome.

The following examples taken from projects executed recently at Nestlé R&D Centres illustrate the execution of the eco-design process and its ability to deliver improved environmental performance and to take into account environmental impacts alongside other design criteria. The first three case studies correspond to the culinary product category and are interrelated; the next three case studies belong to the confectionery, ice-cream and infant nutrition product categories. They demonstrate how eco-design can drive innovation, step by step, and how small changes can make a difference on a global scale.

1 Consumer centric packaging

This renovation project responded to consumer push to improve the user-friendliness of packaging. At the same time, it aimed to develop a more flexible production line for different packaging formats and more recognisable and unique packaging while continuously reducing the environmental impact of the packaging. It became clear that the solution initially proposed would increase the environmental impact due to the generation of more waste during packaging manufacture. This finding was escalated to management functions and it was agreed to establish a concrete action plan for improvements and a clear quantification of the waste generated. As a consequence, the project team turned the negative environmental impact into a neutral one by changing the packaging design and decreasing the amount of material required. The product was then commercialised and launched having a neutral environmental impact and delivering the required consumer benefits and business objectives. The ecodesign process clearly stimulated discussion and triggered improvement efforts that otherwise would not have happened.

2 Recipe improvement

A second project was initiated during the first project’s launch phase, focusing on improving the current product’s performance and better matching consumer needs by reworking the recipe. A similar or reduced environmental impact to the current product was requested in the project brief; this was expected to be achieved mainly via process improvements and better consumer usage (less waste, shorter cooking time). The project team rated the project initially ‘neutral’ due to many uncertainties with regards to recipe modification and knowledge gaps on changes applied to processing. Towards the end of the project’s concept phase, the management team acknowledged the need for more understanding of processing conditions for the range of products and this led to the initiation of a third parallel knowledge generation project.

3 Knowledge generation

This project aimed to define multi-hurdle combinations to design a microbiologically safe and stable intermediate moisture culinary product. The project was rated from the beginning as environmentally beneficial by the project team. An eco-design study was not undertaken initially, as the available Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database did not allow the quantification of the changes applied. The learnings around removing preservatives and optimisation of the heat treatment were directly applied in the former project (running in parallel) and helped to turn the environmental sustainability rating of this project into ‘beneficial’. This was later confirmed via a study using the EcodEX tool and an updated LCI database. Figure 2 summarises the progression of the sustainability rating and ecodesign process as applied to these three projects over the period 2012-2015.

The ecodesign process clearly stimulated discussion and triggered improvement efforts that otherwise would not have happened.'

Figure 2. Eco-design  helped to improve  the sustainability  performance  of products  and triggered  new projects to  explore additional  opportunities.

4 Pack size adaption for a confectionery product

This project responded to consumer demand to change pack sizes and configuration for a confectionery product. During the initial phase of the project it was identified that changes in the packaging shape could lead to reduced environmental impacts. An eco-design assessment using the EcodEX tool confirmed that the new primary packaging design would reduce impacts by 5% to 15% depending on the format used. It was decided to promote these beneficial results globally, so the scope of the project was expanded to evaluate further reductions in secondary and tertiary packaging. The identified solutions and revised pallet configuration required 10% less truck space and 10% less transportation. The machinery needed to produce the packaging solution in factories is now being built into the global machine standard for confectionery packaging solutions. The project was able to deliver not only differentiation and environmental sustainability but also cost savings.

5 Manufacturing location considerations

In this example the project team was tasked to develop a solution to ensure the supply of ice-cream coatings, both in quantity and quality, in a large Asian market. Initially, the ice-cream factory and the chocolate coating factory were situated 2000 km apart so that chocolate coating was being transported across long distances creating risks of delay, product quality deterioration and product losses. Material losses and their associated costs were used to stimulate the discussion on the cost and value of the solution proposed. Once the eco-design assessment was completed using the EcodEX tool, the project team was able to quantify and clearly communicate the beneficial environmental impacts, material cost savings and added value. Stakeholders in the project reacted positively to the understandable, tangible and quantitative environmental information, which further justified implementation of the project. The approach has now been implemented in a similar way in other markets, resulting in considerable benefits globally.

6 Glass to plastic packaging transition

A new ready-to-feed infant formula packaging format was launched in 2014 for supply to hospitals, moving from glass to plastic bottles produced in a new state of the art production line. The new process and packaging ensured optimal product quality and safety, ease of use and a reliable supply, whilst achieving a reduced environmental impact compared to the previous format. An initial internal eco-design assessment was conducted by a packaging specialist as a mandatory part of the packaging innovation and renovation process and was refined during the development phase. The scope of the assessment comprised the packaging related environmental impacts, including material production and delivery, material conversion, transport to filling location, filling, transport to the hospital and end-of-life, and compared the relative impacts of the plastic and glass packaging for a defined set of environmental indicators. Primary, secondary and tertiary packaging were included and a sensitivity analysis was conducted including different bottle sizes and markets. From this assessment the environmental benefits of the plastic over the glass packaging were established.

In this case the project received the highest sustainability rating – ‘considerably beneficial.’ Environmental performance improvements were communicated as equivalent to 13 km travelled by car avoided, 74 m2 of green area preserved and 37 litres of water saved per pack of 32 bottles of 90 ml capacity (in the context of the German market, and full life cycle). The results of the environmental assessment were made available externally to healthcare professionals, alongside other product related information. Nestlé distinguishes between comparative and non-comparative claims when defining requirements for external communication, aligned with the definitions in ISO 14044:2006. In this case the claim was non-comparative (comparison of a renovated Nestlé product with its former version) and a third party LCA was conducted according to ISO 14044:2006 (sections 5.1 and 5.2) and critically reviewed by an independent, external expert. The full scope of the life cycle was considered including ingredients, packaging, manufacturing and filling, distribution, consumer use and end-of life. Finally, in order to ensure that Nestlé’s commitment to providing meaningful and accurate environmental information based on scientific evidence was upheld, the communication material (Figure 3) was subjected to an internal approval process.

The extension of the assessment to the whole product as opposed to packaging only allowed the true environmental impact to be reflected, including food waste impacts due to the differences in losses along the supply chain related to the glass and plastic packaging. Such holistic information is now also available to product and packaging development specialists for in-house eco-design assessments.

Figure 3. Communication material prepared for health care practitioners summarising the environmental performance of 90ml glass and plastic bottles for the German market.

Sharing is key

The experience generated applying eco-design is shared throughout the company and enables Nestlé to continuously improve the environmental performance of renovated and new products. This sharing has the further benefit of cross-fertilisation between different business areas as well as continually building expertise in the field among the network of sustainability champions, project managers and decision makers. This is an ongoing activity and is reflected in the public commitments of the company. As exemplified here, the results are encouraging and are helping to further expand the use of eco-design both in, and beyond, new product development.

References

1. Selerant. EcodEX: eco-design software. http://www.selerant.com/corp/ecodex/lca-analysis/. Milan, 2016.

2. www.ecoinvent.org

3. http://www.quantis-intl.com/microsites/wfldb

4. International Organization for Standardization (ISO). “Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework. ISO 14040:2006. Geneva, 2006

Namy Espinoza-Orias (food life cycle assessment specialist).

Co-authors: Sharon Batley, Sabrina Grassi-Hertz, Sharla Halvorson, Urs Schenker, Christian Detrois, Nestlé Research Center, NESTEC LTD., Vers-Chez-Les-Blanc, 1000 Lausanne 25, Switzerland Web:www.nestle.com/csv/environmental-sustainability

Tel: +41 21 785 9534 Email:NamyDaniela.EspinozaOrias@rdls.nestle.com