Project Background
Weita AG, part of the internationally operating Bunzl Group, distributes consumables in Switzerland. Their product range includes approximately 100,000 products in the categories of Foodservices, Cleaning, General, Safety & Hygiene, and Healthcare. Sustainability is becoming increasingly important, and there is a growing demand for sustainable product alternatives. Various sustainability indicators can be used. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method used to compare products based on their environmental impacts throughout their entire life cycle. The results can be used to classify products into sustainability categories, which can serve as a basis for purchasing decisions.
As part of their commitment to sustainability, Weita AG aims to establish an active shopping basket analysis. The primary goal is to suggest functionally equivalent but more sustainable alternatives to customers based on life cycle assessment data. We are examining this approach within the scope of our project.
Our Mandate
Together, we have selected two types of consumables. We will use life cycle assessments to compare four to five functionally equivalent products for each type and categorize them according to their sustainability. We will analyze the products and develop questionnaires to request the necessary data for the life cycle assessment calculation from the manufacturers. Subsequently, we will use this information, as well as the ecoinvent database, to calculate the environmental impacts per product. Based on these results, we will classify the products into sustainability categories and develop sales recommendations.
We will also document the findings from this pilot project and propose the next steps to implement the active shopping basket analysis across the entire Weita AG product range.