This is the first in the distribution. the ManoMano do-it-yourself merchant site will launch a “carbon score” in April on the core of its range. A first series of 15% of the so-called “most viewed” articles, i.e. approximately 200,000 references, will initially be drawn up. It will be 70% at the end of 2023, or one million products.
ManoMano is a marketplace that offers a total of 16 million references. The initiative will be rolled out in all ManoMano markets, France, Spain, Italy, UK and Germany.
The carbon weight score for drills and other paint cans is calculated from data collected by dealers and, more importantly, manufacturers. Its establishment requires knowledge of the composition (how much metal, plastic, etc.), the distance traveled between the production site and the vendor’s warehouse, the consumption ofpower and its recycling potential.
Jancovici to the rescue
The data is processed by Carbone 4, the consultancy company specializing in low carbon of which Jean-Marc Jancovici is Associates And Greenly, another carbon footprint consultant.
“The hardest part was collecting the data,” he explains Matthieu Pihery, Vice President responsible for business by ManoMano. Some manufacturers, the Germans in particular, many in the DIY world, are sensitive to the issue, others less so.
In concrete terms, the customer will see on the top page of his computer or telephone screen, before the price, a score that will typically go from A to E and from dark green to bright red. The score is determined based on the average of the product family. A carbon weight will be indicated for the product, with its decomposition.
” Unlike the Nutriscore that inspired us that compares Nutella to mineral water, we establish our classification by product type because there is nothing comparable between a chainsaw and a garden chair”, explains Matthieu Pihery.
go ahead
“We innovated by becoming the first do-it-yourself e-retailers. We want to innovate even more,” he explains Christian Raisson, co-founder of ManoMano with Philippe de Chanville, his classmate from EDHEC.
“This is part of the company’s overall ESG approach, which has seen us, for example, significantly reduce the packaging of the products we ship, agrees the manager. We are convinced that sooner or later the state will impose such a carbon score. We are going forward betting that consumers will be sensitive in their choice of this fashion responsible drinking”.
According to the first treatments, there is no correlation between the price of the products and their carbon score. “An extremely robust quality product can use more material than a lighter entry-level product,” comments Christian Raisson.
The weight of the transport
The latter notes, however, that transport weighs heavily on the balance sheet and generates worse scores for what is imported from Asia, i.e. 80% of DIY equipment. “The paint, on the other hand, is produced locally and, although it is a chemical product, it has a good carbon footprint,” he explains.
ManoMano, who passed one billion euro turnover in 2020 and has since experienced, according to its managers, “double-digit growth” driven by energy renovation, wants to attract its market and accepts that its “carbon score” is used by others, especially its suppliers . “Our algorithms already highlight the most sustainable products on our site according to a whole series of criteria. It’s like a sort of natural delisting,” warns Christian Raisson.