BEE, A FREE WEBSOFTWARE TO FACILITATE PACKAGING ECODESIGN

BEE, A FREE WEBSOFTWARE TO FACILITATE PACKAGING ECODESIGN Sophie Bonnier (1) (1) Eco-Emballages, France Abstract To make the ecodesign accessible to all, and particularly to SME, Eco-Emballages developed BEE (Bilan Environnemental des Emballages / Environmental assessment of packaging) a packaging system evaluation software for environmental impact. BEE ensures environmental impact measurements, proposes some customized options for ecodesign packaging and measures environmental progress (impact reduction). The BEE software is a non-restricted website (bee.ecoemballages.fr) open to all stakeholders involved in packaging ecodesign projects. Therefore Eco-Emballages wishes to increase accessibility with ecodesign and to share a robust and transparent methodology: a peer review of the methodology has been carried out and it is explained in a methodological guide available on the software homepage. BEE is the visible tip of the iceberg of Eco-Emballages LCA work on packaging. Indeed, Eco-Emballages works on packaging LCA database development as well as LCA methodology to improve the quality of LCA packaging. This serves to supply BEE but also to share and to help the LCA practitioner community work. Keywords LCA, packaging, web, software, tool, ecodesign 1. INTRODUCTION SOFTWARE GOAL To make the ecodesign accessible to all, and particularly to SME, Eco-Emballages developed BEE (Bilan Environnemental des Emballages / Environmental assessment of packaging) a packaging systems environmental impact evaluation software. BEE ensures environmental impact measurement, proposes some customized options to ecodesign packaging and to measure environmental progress (impact decreasing). BEE software is a non-restricted website (bee.ecoemballages.fr) open to all stakeholders involved in packaging ecodesign projects. Therefore Eco-Emballages wishes to increase accessibility with ecodesign, to popularize packaging LCA and to share a robust and transparent methodology. p. 1

This article presents the packaging LCA methodology developed in BEE and the software functions that make BEE an unique packaging ecodesign software. 2. BEE ROBUST PACKAGING LCA METHODOLOGY BEE is used to assess the environmental impact of packaging and designed to support ecodesign initiatives. It was developed in line with principles inspired from the Life Cycle Assessment method (Methodology governed by ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards). 2.1 Functional unit The service selected to conduct the assessment in BEE is: "Provide (Consumer Sales Unit - CSU, secondary and tertiary) packaging for a product CSU". A CSU, is a ready for sale packaging; for instance it can be a yogurt pack, a bottle, a pack of 6 water bottles, etc. depending on the consumer needs. 2.2 Scope and life cycle stages The packaging system considered in BEE includes 3 main packaging categories: CSU packaging, corresponding to all the packaging found in the consumer's home); secondary packaging (multipack packaging, bundling); tertiary packaging (transport packaging). BEE is not focusing only on CSU packaging in order to avoid transfer within the packaging system. Indeed, even though an easy ecodesign action is to remove a part of the CSU packaging (cardboard around the toothpaste tube, cardboard around yogurt pots), packaging producers can check in BEE if this action can be done without impacting secondary and tertiary packaging. Key stages relating to the life cycle of the packaging system are considered for the assessment: Material production stages; The stages involving material and component manufacturing; The different upstream and downstream transport stages; The end of life of the packaging system. 2.3 Environmental impact indicators Environmental impact indicators calculated with BEE are as follows: Air emissions: greenhouse gases (including the 6 gas families targeted by the Kyoto protocol) Natural resources: water consumption and abiotic resource depletion potential Waste production: Production of non-recovered packaging waste 2.4 Other ecodesign indicators available In order to meet the essential requirements of directive 94/62 EC on packaging and packaging waste, and to encourage the use of recycled material, BEE can also calculate the following three indicators for CSU, secondary or tertiary packaging alone as investigating the packaging system being investigated as a whole: Packaging system weight, Recycling rate of the different packaging levels, Proper implementation of the recyclability requirements for CSU packaging. p. 2

2.5 Packaging recyclability The recyclability assessment for a given material used in packaging observes specific rules. BEE is the only LCA software to give information and advice about packaging recyclability potential. 2.6 Limits BEE is dedicated to evaluate the environmental impact of packaging only. The product environmental contribution can not be studied in BEE and as a consequence, product spoiling due to poor packaging performance, in terms of protection, is not considered. 2.7 Peer Review The tool has been peer reviewed by a large expert panel: ADEME, users (Auchan, Yves Rocher), packaging material producers (glass, steel, aluminum, plastic, cardboard, wood), and LCA experts. The peer review goal is to confirm the methodological choices and the software robustness. 3. BEE - SOFTWARE INNOVATIVE FUNCTIONALITIES In order to be as user-friendly as possible, BEE is available in French and English and has been developed with many innovative functionalities to support ecodesign approaches. 3.1 Environmental impact optimisation With expert LCA software, it is often difficult to identify where to begin to perform ecodesign. To avoid that kind of situation and help BEE users, BEE goes further than LCA results by suggesting a 1st support to launch an ecodesign initiative: after the LCA results analysis, BEE proposes some customized options to ecodesign packaging regarding its whole life cycle. The environmental benefit of these options can be directly tested in BEE, or printed as a customized ecodesign check list. 3.2 Project examples BEE shows project examples already completed, in order to help users either to compare environmental impact, or to begin an environmental assessment. 3.3 Automatic generation of personalized report BEE users can click on a button to generate a report compiling project information: packaging life cycle description, LCA results, missing data, etc. This project report can then be distributed within the project team to share and discuss results. p. 3

3.4 Ecodesign: a team project A dedicated page for team project management is avaliable to identify and share out project tasks among team members (marketing, logistic, packaging, etc.). Even if each person has its own BEE account, it is possible to share projects between users working in the same company. 3.5 User support Performing an environmental assessment is never easy to do even with userfriendly software like BEE. Thus, to support users and never let them feel lost with BEE LCA results, a hotline, FAQs, and user guide are available at any time. The hotline is followed-up by LCA experts, who can help users undestand LCA results. 4. CONCLUSION: BEE, A RELIABLE & CONSTANTLY EVOLVING SOFTWARE BEE software (bee.ecoemballages.fr) is a real success: since its publication (by the end of 2012) 700 users have created their BEE account and are satisfied by its ergonomy, documentation and transparency (in the way that it provides information on methodology and not only on LCA result). A hotline is available in BEE, not only to support users but also to collect comments to update BEE. Indeed, BEE is always evolving: new environmental impact indicators will be added shortly, as well as new functionalities (log-off mode, etc). BEE A complete solution for packaging ecodesign BEE is the visible tip of the iceberg of Eco-Emballages packaging LCA work. Eco- Emballages works on packaging LCA database development as well as LCA methodology to improve the quality of packaging LCA. That work is first used to implement BEE but also to share and to help the work of the LCA practitioner community. p. 4

BEE, UN OUTIL EN LIGNE AU SERVICE DE TOUS POUR FACILITER L ECO-CONCEPTION DES EMBALLAGES Sophie Bonnier (1) (1) Eco-Emballages, France Pour rendre l éco-conception accessible à tous, et particulièrement aux PME, Eco- Emballages a développé BEE (Bilan Environnemental des Emballages), un logiciel d évaluation des impacts environnementaux des systèmes d emballage qui propose de manière personnalisée, des pistes d éco-conception des emballages et qui permet de mesurer les progrès. Le logiciel BEE est un site Internet (bee.ecoemballages.fr) ouvert à tous les acteurs concernés par l éco-conception des emballages. Eco-Emballages souhaite ainsi augmenter l accessibilité à l éco-conception et mettre à disposition une méthodologie robuste et transparente : elle a fait l objet d une revue critique et elle est développée dans un guide méthodologique disponible dès la page d accueil du logiciel. BEE en quelques mots Développé selon la méthodologie de l Analyse du Cycle de Vie, BEE est dédié à l évaluation du bilan environnemental des emballages et s applique à l ensemble du système d emballage : UVC, secondaire et tertiaire. Il va au-delà des résultats d ACV, en proposant un 1 er accompagnement dans une démarche d éco-conception : après analyse des résultats, BEE fait des suggestions personnalisées d optimisation des emballages sur l ensemble de son cycle de vie. BEE permet une analyse selon 4 indicateurs environnementaux : effet de serre, consommation de ressources naturelles, empreinte eau et acidification de l air; et 4 indicateurs d éco-conception : poids et taux de recyclage du système d emballage, bonne mise en œuvre des règles de recyclabilité pour l emballage UVC et production de déchets d emballages. BEE est le seul outil permettant d avoir un avis détaillé sur le potentiel de recyclage des emballages. Le logiciel ainsi que sa méthodologie sont d accès libres et gratuits pour tous. Enfin, BEE est équipé de fonctionnalités innovantes : - L édition automatique de rapports personnalisés, - Des exemples de projets type déjà modélisés pour aider les utilisateurs, - Une page dédiée à la gestion du projet en équipe, - Un accompagnement de l utilisateur : hotline, FAQ, guide utilisation