The UK’s largest retailer is the first to display the full carbon footprint on all its own brand milk (with the exception of organic milk). This move is part of Tesco’s pledge to carbon footprint 500 products by the end of the year to help consumers make ’green’ purchasing decisions. The labelling shows that milk produces between 716g (skimmed) and 916g (whole milk) of C02e (carbon dioxide equivalence) per pint Tesco data reveals that over 70% of the total is accounted for by the production stage of the process.
The retailer is working to reduce this by researching ways of reducing methane emissions from milk production. This includes looking at different feeds which may reduce methane emissions from cows and encouraging the use of renewable energy on farm. Depending on fat type 9-10% of the total carbon footprint comes from processing, 11-14% from distribution and retail and 4-5% from use and end of life.
