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Tiger Brands Limited integrated annual report
2015 65
What we analyse in a product lifecycle assessment
Impact
Description
Example
Energy use
Indicator
: primary energy demand
Total primary energy extracted from
the earth, expressed as energy
demand from non-renewable
resources (eg petrol or natural gas)
and renewable resources (eg
hydropower, wind or solar).
Efficiencies in energy conversion
(electricity, heats and steam) are taken
into account
Bean farming contributes significantly
to primary energy demand due to the
agriculture and plantation process. In
the preparation process, the major
contributors to primary energy
demand are bean farming, steam
consumption and transporting beans
to the manufacturing site (86% of
beans are imported by ship and
transported by truck to our factories).
Squeeze bottle has 4% less
environmental impact than glass.
Climate change
Indicator
: global warming potential
(over 100 years)
Greenhouse gas emissions (CO
2
and methane)
Filling and canning stage accounts for
30% of global warming potential
(22% from producing the cans).
Squeeze bottle has 50% less
environmental impact than glass.
Water body health
Indicator
: eutrophication (soil run-off
into water bodies that supports robust
plant life but deoxygenates the water,
killing animal life)
Identifying the equivalence between sodium and potassium for both terrestrial
and aquatic systems
Acidification
Indicator
: acidification potential
Emissions with acidifying effects on the environment, specifically sulphur,
sodium and halogen atoms
Air
Indicator
: photochemical ozone
creation potential (or smog potential)
Emissions that contribute to low-level smog (the reaction of nitrogen oxides and
volatile organic compounds under ultraviolet light)