Professional Web Portal and Printed Directory about Companies, Products and Services from the Horticulture, Gardening and Associated Markets.
Professional Web Portal and Printed Directory about Companies, Products and Services from the Horticulture, Gardening and Associated Markets.
MPS CERTIFICATION SYSTEM
The last two weeks, theMPS coordinator, René Rombouts, visited several producers participating in the MPS certification in Asturias, Galicia , the northern part of Portugal and the island of Tenerife , together with Raymond Scheepens, MPS area manager for Southern Europe, with the purpose of supporting them in their dealings with the certifier and answering doubts or questions.
The companies have been able to share with him their worries and concerns, which is mainly the lack of water, a constant for many producers, in Portugal and Tenerife. The limited supply of water encourages producers to improve the efficiency of water use, something that MPS-ABC certification motivates and values positively. As in the visits made in September of last year to the southern part of Portugal, the strong growth that ornamental production is experiencing attracted a lot of attention.
Rombouts: “Apart from visiting the participants, I had the pleasure of meeting several nurseries interested in starting with certification, it shows that the demand for environmental certification does not stop, but is increasing. With the new European obligations to report on the impact of corporate sustainability, within EU legislation, called CSRD, large distribution companies will request information on the environmental impact generated in the flower and plant production phase. The MPS-ABC certification is a perfect tool for this purpose. In addition, MPS is taking important steps in calculating the impact generated throughout the life of the flower or plant, called in English the “ Life Cycle Analysis ”, consisting of the calculation of 16 items, such as the carbon footprint, “water footprint, ecotoxicity, etc., giving the user complete information on the impact generated throughout the life cycle of the flower or plant.”
“Now many of the companies are focusing on the spring campaign, but in June I will visit nurseries again, starting in Barcelona, coinciding with the Viridalia open days,” comments René Rombouts.
