European Commission gives seal of approval to Life Cycle assessment-based method FloriPEFCR

Front row from left to right: Jeroen Oudheusden (FSI), Albert Haasnoot (Royal FloraHolland) and Roline Broekema (project leader Wageningen University & Research).

The European Commission, the European Union’s executive body, has endorsed FloriPEFCR, the new standard method for environmental footprint calculations for flowers and plants. FloriPEFCR stakeholders gathered in Wageningen on Valentine’s Day when project leader Roline Broekema of Wageningen University & Research presented Jeroen Oudheusden, Executive Officer of the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) with the first copy of the FloriPEFCR booklet.

Royal FloraHolland sustains that European consumers and trade are increasingly demanding demonstrably verifiable, sustainably grown flowers and plants. Reliability and transparency of the cooperative’s platform is, therefore, an absolute must for the sector’s reputation, it says.

To meet the demand for reliable insight into the environmental impact of floriculture products, a consortium of lots led by Royal FloraHolland and Wageningen University & Research has developed the FloriPEFCR for the European floriculture market/horticulture market. The FloriPEFCR is now the new standard method for environmental footprint calculations for flowers and plants.

The FloriPEFCR (Floriculture Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules) allows green professionals to calculate the environmental impact of cut flowers and pot plants using 16 environmental indicators.

This calculation is done according to a European Commission recognised, accredited Product Environmental Footprint standard, under which FloriPEFCR falls.

Following the submission on 29 September 2023 of the final version of FloriPEFCR to the European Commission (EC), the project management has been interrogated considerably on the content by the Technical Advisory Board and the Environmental Footprint Team of the EC in recent months. This questioning has been successfully completed. From now on, the floriculture industry can calculate, compare and monitor the environmental impact of a cut flower or pot plant in an unambiguous way.

FSI will develop a benchmark for tools that promote unity of both methodology and data verification and exchange. In 2024, Royal FloraHolland will develop a vision for using footprint information. In doing so, Floriday will be committed to exchanging this information. Through the practical application of footprint information, the idea is to reduce the sector’s ecological footprint and collaborate to increase trust and transparency.

In 2018, the project under the name ‘Hortifootprint’ was initiated by Royal FloraHolland, GroentenFruit Huis and WUR and co-funded by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture. The project group also includes Union Fleurs, MPS group, Glasshouse Horticulture Netherlands, Natuur & Milieu, FSI, Florverde, ABN AMRO and Rabobank. PRé Sustainability and Blonk Consultants provided LCA-specific support.

In 2019, following the publication of the Hortifootprint category rules, the project continued with the development of FloriPEFCR under the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint. Under the EU’s proposed rules, companies making green claims will in future be required to assess their products using Life Cycle Assessment-based methods and the so-called Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method is specifically mentioned in it. The floriculture sector is leading the way with this.