What is it?
ENVIROSCORE is an environmental rating methodology specifically designed for the food sector. It was developed and scientifically validated by AZTI in collaboration with KU Leuven (University of Leuven). Its goal is to provide the food industry with a reliable tool to understand the environmental impact of products and communicate it to the market in a clear and accessible way.
ENVIROSCORE is based on a full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), evaluating all stages of a product’s life cycle—from raw material production to end of life.
The problem it solves
- The complexity of measuring the environmental impact of food products.
- The lack of standardized, scientifically validated tools to compare environmental performance across products.
- The need to communicate environmental information in a clear, easily understandable way for consumers.
How does it work?
- Data are collected for each stage of the product’s life cycle.
- The ENVIROSCORE algorithm calculates 16 key environmental indicators (carbon footprint, water footprint, resource use, acidification, eutrophication, among others).
- The results are combined into a single overall score.
- This score is translated into a five-level scale, from A (best environmental performance) to E (highest environmental impact).
- The system can be used both for internal improvement and for consumer-facing labelling.
Key benefits
- Rigor and reliability: developed by AZTI and KU Leuven, based on the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology recommended by the European Commission.
- Institutional backing: funded by the Basque Government and the European Commission through EIT Food.
- Scientific recognition: Nature considers it a robust and reliable methodology for assessing environmental impact.
- Comprehensive coverage: analysis of 16 indicators for a holistic view of environmental impact.
- Comparability: enables consistent comparison across different products using harmonized criteria.
- Support for continuous improvement: identifies hotspots and opportunities to reduce impact.
- Effective communication: a clear label that supports more sustainable purchasing decisions.
- Validated in more than 20 product categories, with applications in ecodesign and impact reduction plans.
Scientific publications
The ENVIROSCORE algorithm is described and validated in:
- Ramos, S., Segovia, L., Melado-Herreros, A. et al. Enviroscore: normalization, weighting, and categorization algorithm to evaluate the relative environmental impact of food and drink products. npj Sci Food 6, 54 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-022-00165-z
