Sept. 21, 2007 Nine companies have announced plans to test carbon labels on their products sold in the U.K. (via Environmental Leader)

The Carbon Trust's draft product carbon footprinting standard, currently being developed in partnership with Defra and BSI British Standards, calculates the total carbon emissions associated with a product's manufacture and distribution.

The companies and products are:

¢ Aggregate Industries - Hard landscaping products (paving stones, etc.)
¢ Cadbury Schweppes , Cadbury Dairy Milk bars
¢ Coca-Cola , A sparkling beverage and a still beverage from its product range
¢ The Co-operative Group , 200g and 400g punnet strawberries
¢ Halifax , Halifax Web Saver Account
¢ Kimberly-Clark , Andrex Toilet Tissue and Huggies diapers
¢ Marshalls , Hard landscaping products (paving stone, etc.)
¢ M0ller Dairy (UK) Limited , One type of yoghurt from its product range
¢ Scottish & Newcastle , Fosters Lager and Bulmers Original Cider

"The take-up from business of the Carbon Trust's scheme shows that there's real appetite and willingness to firstly understand, and secondly to reduce the impact that their products have on our planet," says U.K. Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock. "It is encouraging that so many leading companies are stepping up to the plate on this.

In the U.S., PepsiCo and Wal-Mart have been exploring carbon labels, but note the difficulty in calculating a product's total emissions footprint.