Applicability of PEF methodologies in comparison of LCAs of different food products in Nordic countries

The aim of the project is to look at PEF methods from the perspective of comparability of environmental impact assessment of food. The aim is to assess how the PEF guidelines and PEFCRs developed for the comparison of environmental footprints within product categories also allow comparisons between different product categories and food products.

The project is being implemented in Nordic co-operation with funding from the Nordic Council of Ministers' NEF project. Luke will be leading the project and function as the coordinator of the project and project is conducted in Nordic collaboration with the University of Aarhus, RISE and NORSUS. The project is specifically linked to and implemented in co-operation with the NordPEF and LCAFoodHarmon projects. The report / scientific article produced in the project is strongly based on the work already done in Luke. This Nordic co-operation examines the work from a Nordic perspective and provides a broader view of the study that has already been done.

The PEF and PEFCR guidelines have been developed as tools to support the transparency and comparability of environmental sustainability claims. However, the guidelines are designed to work when comparing the performance of products within the same product category. There is an increasing desire to extend this comparability between different product categories, and PEF guidelines can serve as a basis for this. The project seeks a common view of the Nordic context through international research cooperation. Through the NEF project, the results will be made available directly to the European Commission and to the development of harmonized calculation methods of environmental impacts.