Greenpeace backing CO2 seals for foodstuffs
By Lisa ChapmanGreenpeace Austria has said it is in talks with supermarket chains over the placement of CO2 seals on food products.The
environmental group announced today (Thurs) it was talking to retail
bosses about the seals – small labels stating how much CO2 was consumed
in production of a good which it claimed consumers wanted to see on
products.Greenpeace chief Alexander Egit said: “A coordinated
approach will correspond to consumers desire for a coherent and
transparent solution.”He added supermarkets would profit from early “CO2 optimisation” given the prospect of a CO2 tax.Greenpeace
consumer spokeswoman Claudia Sprinz said: “There are clear indications
that Austrian consumers would welcome independent CO2 seals on food
products.”She said a Eurobarometer study last April had showed that 85 per cent of Austrians wanted CO2 seals on foodstuffs.Egit
added the chains Wal-Mart (USA), Tesco (UK), Casino (France) and Migros
(Switzerland) had already started using the seals and that pilot
projects with German firms Rewe, DM, Frosta, Henkel, Tchibo and
Tengelmann were also under way.Werner Lampert, the initiator of
Austrian supermarket chain Hofers “Zuruck zum Ursprung” (Back to the
Source) project, said the chains current turnover from low-CO2
products meant the emission of 12,350 fewer tonnes of the gas annually
– the equivalent of driving 16,000 kilometres or 400 times around the
world at the equator, he claimed.Egit added that Greenpeace was
talking with other big Austrian supermarket chains and that Rewe and
Spar were likely to decide by the end of the year whether their
supermarkets would participate in the project.