Carbon Labeling and Measuring Carbon Impact of Products

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Carbon Clarity

Understanding Carbon Impact

Carbon Labeling For a Climate-Smart Future

What’s in a number? When it comes to carbon, numbers tell an important story. We’re upfront and transparent about the amount of climate-impacting carbon generated as we make, distribute, use, and eventually recognize the end-of-life of our products.

We’re working hard to reduce the carbon footprint of our products and holding ourselves accountable by placing a carbon footprint label directly on the box.

We All Have a Carbon Footprint, So We All Have a Climate Impact

Whether it’s making a cup of coffee, driving a car, or gaming at home, our everyday actions release greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere – and right now, we’re collectively releasing too much of it. It gets trapped, causing the planet to warm with resulting environmental and social impact.

We all create an impact and have an opportunity to reduce it. Measuring and understanding this impact is the first step towards managing it.

We Can Reduce Our Climate Impact by Reducing Our Carbon Emissions

At Logitech we’re working hard to balance the carbon we emit with the carbon we remove and eliminate. When the two are equal, a business is considered ‘carbon neutral’. Logitech is on track to be completely carbon neutral by 2021, but we want to go even further. We’re constantly assessing our products and manufacturing processes, and reducing carbon by ‘designing out’ the most wasteful combinations.

Ultimately, It’s All About Choices

Giving you the full picture on what goes into making each product is important because it allows you to make an informed choice. The climate crisis is real. Action is urgently needed. That’s why in June 2020, we promised to be open and clear about the carbon footprint of our products, and what we’re doing to reduce it. Now, you can make a choice that’s informed not just by the price and features of your purchase, but by its environmental impact too.

The First, But We Hope Not The Last

Logitech is the first consumer electronics company to commit to label its products with their carbon footprint, but we hope we won’t be the last. That’s why we’re opening up and offering the complete methodology and labelling process to the entire industry. We hope others join us and that we can share and build on what we’ve learned together to give you more, and informed, choices.

What's Behind The Number

Quite a lot! The number on our carbon label is an estimate of the total carbon footprint of a product and packaging over its entire life cycle. It shows the weight of CO₂e gases emitted over an assumed two year use period. We have developed a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology that allows us to estimate a product’s carbon impact from raw material sourcing to manufacturing, distribution, consumer use, and ultimately disposal or recycling at end-of-life.

Looking at a Logitech Gaming Mouse

Let’s explore the carbon footprint of the Logitech Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse, by looking at what happens at each phase of its life.

Overview

HOW WE CALCULATE THE NUMBER

A carbon footprint is measured in kilograms of CO₂e. The higher the number, the bigger the impact. Usually, larger and more complex products have a higher carbon footprint when it comes to sourcing, manufacturing and distribution. But to fully measure a product’s impact you need to consider the whole lifecycle including consumer use and end of life.

Manufacturing

Sourcing And Manufacturing

From what goes into our products to how we make them – the carbon footprint reflects the combined effect of all of the greenhouse gases associated with sourcing the raw materials, manufacturing, and assembly of the materials and components used in our products.

This phase accounts for 78% of the Pro Wireless mouse’s carbon footprint.

WHERE DO WE GET THIS NUMBER FROM?

To estimate carbon impacts for this phase we collect data on everything from the electricity used during plastic moulding right down to the weight of adhesive tape used during final assembly.

Transportation

Storage and Transportation

Getting our products from the factory, to our warehouse, to our retailers and e-tailers, and then to you.

We estimate storage and distribution phase impacts by gathering detailed information on the journey our product takes. From the boats and planes distributing our products internationally right down to the car journeys made by users to buy our products, we measure the carbon impact of it all.

This phase accounts for 6% of the Pro Wireless mouse’s carbon footprint.

How It's Used

In-use

This is where you come in – this impact comes from the electricity and batteries needed to power your products.

This number represents at-home, or in-use, energy consumption.

This phase accounts for 9% of the Pro Wireless mouse’s carbon footprint.

End-of-Life

End-of-life

This is related to how our products are disposed of, including the physical product, its batteries and packaging, as well as whether it is recycled or sent to a landfill.

This phase accounts for 7% of the Pro Wireless mouse’s carbon footprint.

We're working to bring this number down and to increase the amount of recycled and recyclable material used in our products and packaging.

Designing out Carbon

Throughout the design process, our tools and design expertise help us analyze the carbon impact of our product and packaging and to identify the biggest potential environmental impacts. In turn, this helps us adjust product design or focus our innovations on addressing these hotspots to lower the carbon footprint of our next generation products.

Methodology Deep Dive

The Start of Something Big

In June 2020, Logitech was the first consumer electronics company to commit to providing detailed carbon impact labeling for ALL products on its packaging and online marketing materials. With hundreds of products this takes time and we are working with external experts to further validate our data. Browse through our selection of carbon-labeled mice and keyboards below and choose what is right for you.