The Courier-Mail
A new sticker on a bottle of olive oil may kickstart action to give Australian shoppers clear information about the impact on the environment of the products they buy.
The label shows the greenhouse gases generated by a product – including its raw materials and manufacturing process – to allow shoppers to compare emissions as part of buying decisions.
The local arm of German grocery chain ALDI has become the first company in Australia to join the labelling program, which operates in 19 countries and is run here by Planet Ark.
ALDI will start the program here later this year when it applies a label to its olive oil range, a move the company says won't bring any price rise.
ALDI's managing director for buying, Tom Daunt, said it made good business sense to "protect and promote the environment".
Planet Ark program manager Diane Mann said the label appeared on hundreds of product categories in UK stores and companies in the US, China, South Korea and Taiwan were getting involved in the program.
"This is the first time full emissions data will be disclosed on a product here and that transparency is going to be a big incentive for business to reduce emissions and for consumers to understand these impacts," Ms Mann said.
"Australians are looking for this information and we're aiming to get up to speed with where they are in the UK as soon as we can."
But it may be some time until shoppers see carbon data on a range of products here.
The Australian Food and Grocery Council queried if emissions data should be disclosed or if there should be a single rating representing global warming, water use and recycling impacts.
AFGC chief executive Kate Carnell said the industry "isn't negative" to the concept of emissions data on products but Coles said it had no immediate plans to use the label and Woolworths said any label would add to costs and potentially confuse customers.