Not at all, however the type of chocolate black or white) is decisive for the environmental footprint as confirmed by a recent LCA carried out by the Swiss company ESU-services and commissioned by GDA in cooperation with the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA).

The objective was to investigate the life cycle of chocolate, wrapped in aluminium foil and paper. Different chocolate compositions have been investigated starting with the cacao production cover-ing also retail and storage at the household. Several environmental aspects were distinguished, amongst others the potential contribution to climate change, the ozone layer depletion and acidification.

As in previous studies the major contributor to the environmental burden is the production of the filling good itself. Different chocolate compositions (like dark and white) are responsible for a difference of factor 2 between impact indicators. The contribution of retail packaging varies accordingly from 6% to 12% considering the contribution to greenhouse gas emissions in particular.

Details are revealed in the summary at

www.alufoil-sustainability.org

were also other food LCA summaries are available.
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Your contact:

Jörg Schäfer
Referent Ökologie
Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e.V.

Tel:    + 49 211 47 96 170
Fax:   + 49 211 47 96 408

Mail:  joerg.schaefer@aluinfo.de
Web: www.aluinfo.de