What is the carbon
footprint of products (CFP)?･･･

Point

You know about it, donʼt you?
Carbon footprint of products (CFP) ‒ its meaning,its signiﬁcance.

Letʼs look at the example of the life
cycle of a can of orange juice!

All the products (goods and services) that we purchase and consume require large
amounts of energy throughout their product life cycles ‒ from the time they are madethrough to the time they are disposed of. That energy is obtained mainly from fossil fuelssuch as oil, coal and natural gases, and all of these release carbon dioxide (CO₂) into theatmosphere, which is a cause of global warming.

The carbon footprint of products (CFP)The CO₂ emissionsof the product

Making the rawmaterials

Raw material
acquisition

Transport

The CO₂emitted when
the product is
produced

The CO₂
emitted when
the product isdisposed of

The CFP label is based on weighing scales
and was designed to get across an image ofan intentional attempt to weigh the invisible
CO₂ emissions.

2SHOP

Transport &sale*

43.1g▶Dispatch▶Refrigerated
transport
▶Sale

Use/
maintenanceUse

Disposal/
recycling

Disposal

18.5g▶Refrigeration

The CO₂
emitted when theproduct is used

The sign is this label!

CFP▶Production of juice▶Packaging

The point is to calculate emissions for the whole
product life cycle!

The total CO₂emissions (CFP)

30.8g＝Producing
the productProduction

The CO₂
emitted when
the product istransported

18.5g▶Production ofaluminum can▶Cultivation ofraw materials

The carbon footprint of a product is calculated by combining the total greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions emitted at each stage of the productʼs life cycle to ﬁnd out its overall
emissions, and then converting this ﬁgure into the equivalent amount of CO₂ emitted.

The CO₂emitted when theraw materials forthe product areacquired

visualizes where and how much
CO₂ emissions are released.

12.1g

The CO₂ emissionsof the product123g

In the past there was atendency for peopleʼsattention to focus solely on
the production stage, but
under the CFP system you canclearly see exactly how much
CO₂ is emitted throughout theentire life cycle of a product ‒from production, use, disposaland recycling.

▶Empty cancollection*The sales stage was not covered in calculations during the pilot period.
N.B. All numerical values are hypothetical.

CarbonFootprint3

Backgroundto the creation of CFP
To gain the cooperation of as many people aspossible in CO₂ reductions,the carbon footprint of products (CFP) was created.
In the Kyoto Protocol, Japan committed to reducing its domestic greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by 6% of the 1990 level by the year 2012. As a concrete measure forachieving this target, discussions started towards the development of a carbon footprint
mechanism that would “visualize” the CO₂ emissions of products.
The life cycle of products depends not just on the manufacturers but also on the manyother operators involved at the stages of raw material acquisition, production, transport,
use and maintenance, disposal and recycling. Furthermore, consumers are also involvedin the stages of the use as well as disposal and recycle of products. CFP is a tool withthe theme of products for getting both operators and consumers to think about reducing
GHG emissions, and involving them in these eﬀorts.

CFP was created as a tool toTransition and Outlook of Japanʼs Greenhouse Gas Emissions（Million t CO₂）
1,361

1,355

1,371

1,358

▲

Promotion of furthermeasures required

1,340

1,300

1,281

3.8% by the promotion offorest carbon-sink measures
1.6% by the Kyoto mechanism

1,200
1,186-6% compared to Base Year
(Reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol)

0

1990

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

If we think about theCO₂ emissions in thelife cycle of a product….
many operators andconsumers are involved.

In order to obtain thecooperation of more
people in reducing CO₂emissions….
it is vital to visualize
those CO₂ emissions.

And thatʼs how CFP
was created.

20092012
Fiscal year

Japanʼs CO₂ emissions by sectors
Residential sector:

3

Reductions in domestic
emissions

1,254

CFP is a “common scale” for enabling
the visualization of CO₂ that is unseeable.

2

1,290

1,261

Emissions in the base year

1

involve everybody in
CO₂ reductions.

Point

As you can see, the CO₂
emissions from residential andcommercial sectors are quite
large. So not only operators,
but consumers and society as
a whole, need to play a part in
reducing CO₂ emissions.

14％

Commercial sector(offices, etc):

19％

Commercial andresidential sector:

33％ Total CO₂

Others:13％

emissions in 2009:1.145 billion tons

Transport sector:

20％

Industries
sector:34％

Source: Japan's National Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Fiscal Year 2009 (Final Figures)from the Ministry of the Environment

Background45

By creating common rules for calculations

How CFP is calculated
To visualize CO₂ emissions,
we integrate CFP calculation methods.

PARTPoint

the carbon footprint of each productcan be calculated
under the same
speciﬁc rules.

1

CFP is calculated according to product category rules (PCR) that set the rules for thesecalculations in each product category.
Moreover, by running checks on the calculation method with a committee of third-party
experts, a system that secures fairness and reliability has been constructed.

Letʼs look at the example of hams and sausages!

N.B. The following presents an example of the way of thinking behind the calculations.
It has been abbreviated and does not exactly coincide with the actual meticulous calculations.

Step 1 ① The whole life cycle looks like this.
Pigs arereared.

Hams andsausages are made.

They aretransported andtaken to homes.

Theircontainers aredisposed of.

They are kept
and eaten.

② Now we take a close look at each stage.
Feed given to pigs.

Step 1

Step 2

Detailed life cycle
assessment of products

Calculation of CO₂
emissions at each stage

What sort of stages
the productʼs life cycle
consists of is assessed‒ from raw material
acquisition through todisposal.

CO₂ emissions for eachstage are calculated bymultiplying the active
volume at each stage
by the CO₂ emissions
emitted at a certain
level of activity (thebasic unit of CO₂emissions).

Step 3Methane gas generated.

Feces treated.

CFP calculation

etc.

The amount of the CO₂emissions at eachstage are added up and
CFP is calculated.

Active volume

Step 2×Basic unit of CO₂ emissions(e.g. the volume of emissions
per liter for gasoline)=CO₂ emissions are calculated bymultiplying the active volume by
the CO₂ emissions emitted at acertain level of activity (the basic
unit of CO₂ emissions).
If trucks are used for transport...

(e.g. the amount of gasoline
used by the truck)

CO₂ emissions
Calculations for eachstage are standardizedand integrated.

Per product category=Product category rules (PCR)

6

Step 3×Checks on
calculation methods
by third-party
experts.

=Fairness＆reliability

The amount of the CO₂ emissions
at each stage are added up andCFP is calculated.

A life cycle ﬂow chart is completed
by precisely assessing each stage.
(This is explained on the next page.)

PCR

Product category rule7

Product category rules (PCR), including

How CFP is calculated

Point

life cycle ﬂow charts, are displayed on theCFP website, making it possible to assuretransparency and enabling those involvedin future CFP calculations to look atthem.

PART2

Making hams andsausages (image)Raw materials acquisition stage

Life cycle ﬂow charts are…

As we explained on the previous pages, by minutely mapping out what sort of processes occur fromthe acquisition of the raw materials for a product right through to its disposal and recycling, aproduct life cycle ﬂow chart is produced.

Production stage
Water

Rearing of pigs

Seasonings

Energysuch aselectricity

Manufacture ofhams and sausages

Hamsandsausages

TransportStoreUse & maintenance stage
ElectricpowerEnergy
such aselectricity

Storage

Cooking

Empty
packages

Disposal &recycling stage

TransportStorage/
consignment

MixingContainers and packaging

Extras (sachets of mustard, etc.)

Transport stage

Home

Disposal/
recycling& treatment

Processing

Storing

Eﬄuent water

Eﬄuenttreatment

N.B. The shop sales process (the part in the dotted circle in the diagram) has been provisionally discounted from the calculations.
Certain parts of the PCR life cycle flow chart have been shown in an abbreviated form.

89Let s expand CFP
to the future

Carbon footprint of products Towards

PointWhy donʼt you join us in spreading the message,in using CFP to make an eco-society?

CFP spreading across the world
Measures to promote CFP activities are underway allover the world ‒ in European countries such as Britain,France, and Germany, in the U.S. and Canada, and in
Asia and Oceania.
In tandem with this movement, the international
standardization of CFP is also being pursued as a partof the ISO 14000 series.

Carbon footprint labeling enables us to select products based on a new indicator, the“environment”. Moreover, business operators too can use the label as an indicator of theirenvironmental management and corporate social responsibility (CSR) eﬀorts.
By spreading and expanding the CFP concept even wider and deeper we can create afuture in which everybody participates together in the creation of an eco-society. We
sincerely hope that everyone will continue to support the CFP label.

We will also
support it!

ision ofProv carbon

Businesses
Ingredientproducers &farmers

The customers
were please with our
eco-friendly
products!

All businesses
involved in production
should think about it.

10lowerproductsRetailstoresPriceConsumer

Product selection
Consumers canselect products basedon a new indicator,
the “environment”

Calories
NutritionLetʼs recycle!

Letʼs start tracking
the carbon footprintof products!

Recyclingbusinesses

an eco-society witheverybody sawarenessTowar ds
aneco-soc iety

Switch toeco-friendly
lifestyles

And

Consumers can become awareof the impact onElectricity
the environment insavingthe processes of using
and disposing of products.

Logistics
Understanding thecarbon footprint of
products helped us ﬁnd many
areas where we emit a lot ofCO₂, and we were able toreduce our emissions.

Recycling

Safetyandreliability

Sup port

theenvironmentLetʼs switch
oﬀ lights or unplug
electrical devices
when not in use

for the future
Carbon Footprint

11