Muirhead advises the passenger transport sector to consider the life-cycle emissions of its suppliers in a bid to raise standards in carbon footprint reporting.
The firm, a supplier of Scottish leather to the aviation, bus, coach, and rail industries, argues the third-party assessment could become a new standard in passenger transport.
Muirhead says that the assessments help companies quantify the environmental impact of their activities, verify their supply chains and back up their sustainability claims with analysis to leave no room for greenwashing.
The assessment estimates the environmental impacts attributable to the entire life cycle of a product – including the influence of upstream farming, the manufacturing process, distribution, transportation, and end-of-life disposal.
The need to take life-cycle emissions into account is now widely recognised in carbon footprint reporting.
Head of Sustainability and Innovation, Scottish Leather Group, Dr Warren Bowden, said: “The need to take life-cycle emissions into account is now widely recognised in carbon footprint reporting – but its adoption in the passenger transport sector has been relatively slow.
“As the producer of the world’s lowest carbon leather, we encourage operators and manufacturers to request transparent and measurable assessments of their suppliers’ overall environmental impact – from raw material consumption, through production, to end-of-life disposal.
Equally, Bowden says the Group encourages other suppliers to ramp up their carbon accounting with a comprehensive impact assessment, and to ensure their sustainability credentials are backed by independently verified, rigorous analysis.
“By subjecting our own products to a Life Cycle Analysis, we were able to provide Muirhead’s customers with independently verified sustainability data – empowering them to make a tangible impact on their own journeys towards net zero.”