Air So Pure Launches Shared Methodology To Measure Carbon Impact Of Indoor Plant Production

Pim van der Knaap of KP Holland evaluates Spathiphyllum crop quality under greenhouse conditions, as Air So Pure growers adopt standardised environmental footprint measurement across production.

Air So Pure, a network of Dutch indoor plant growers, has committed to calculating the environmental footprint of its products annually, marking a coordinated step towards greater transparency and measurable sustainability progress.

For the 12 growers within the Air So Pure network, the decision reflects a shift towards shared methodologies and comparable data, rather than individual approaches to sustainability reporting. The group produces a range of indoor plants, including Spathiphyllum, Nephrolepis, Monstera, Kentia palms, Calathea, Dracaena and Hedera sold under the Air So Pure brand.

Working in collaboration with AIPH Affiliate Member Greenhouse Sustainability, the group will use the Flori Footprint Tool, developed in line with the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR). These guidelines, established under the European Commission’s Environmental Footprint initiative, aim to harmonise life cycle assessment (LCA) methods and provide reliable, comparable and verifiable environmental information.

According to grower Pim van der Knaap of KP Holland, the initiative is as much about alignment as it is about measurement.

“A growers’ association such as Air So Pure has ambitious goals, one of which is sustainability. Clean air naturally goes hand in hand with this. We are a diverse group, so it is important that we move in the same direction,” he said.

The use of a single calculation framework enables comparison between participating companies, helping to identify differences in performance and areas for improvement. This is supported by an administrator tool that allows aggregated and individual data to be analysed across the group.

A key objective is to achieve a five per cent annual reduction in the collective carbon footprint. While individual investments, such as switching to geothermal heat, may have varying impacts at group level, shared data is expected to support more coordinated progress.

“You can only achieve reductions if you understand each other’s performance,” van der Knaap noted. “By linking data across the group, we can make more significant strides and keep each other motivated.”

The initiative also highlights a practical challenge facing many growers: access to expertise and resources. Within the group, more advanced members are supporting others, including sharing data management capacity to lower the barrier to participation.

Air So Pure’s retail display demonstrates how standardised plant ranges and sustainability data can support buyer decision-making and category development.

For the wider sector, the move reflects increasing pressure to provide buyers with reliable, comparable environmental data, as sustainability reporting becomes more structured across European markets.

Air So Pure members have had access to the tool since the beginning of this year. Van der Knaap emphasised that the next step will be to build a consistent baseline across the group.

“Ultimately, the aim is that by the end of the year we can compare the results with last year’s, so that we can build on that.”