Development of the Growing Media Environmetal Footprint (GMEF) guidelines

​

The GMEF guidelines are the result of an extensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Project that started in 2018 when Growing Media Europe decided that the industry needed one tool to calculate the footprint of all growing media. The guidelines that have been developed by Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk provide a set of recommendations and best practices that help companies calculate their environmental impact when producing growing media, but also aid down stream users of growing media to incorporate the footprint of the growing media into their own product.

​

The new LCA standard enables all growing media producers to calculate their product's environmental impact using the same calculation rules, considering the same impact categories, aligned with the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology developed by the European Commission. 

​

The GMEF Guidelines also builds upon the following guidelines: 

• IPCC Guidance on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories 2006 

• 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands

• PAS2050-1:2012

• PAS2050:2011

​

 To access the V.1 guidelines here