Methodology

This page explains where the environmental figures in ClimateCart come from and how they are calculated. All values are estimates based on average data per product type.

Carbon footprint

Calculation: for each product, ClimateCart multiplies a carbon footprint per kg by the weight of the product you bought.

• Footprint per kg: comes from Agribalyse 3.1.1, the reference food database of the French environment agency ADEME. It gives the carbon footprint in kg CO₂e per kg of product, calculated with the European Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method and its impact assessment method EF 3.1.
• Weight: when the receipt shows a weight, for example for loose fruit and vegetables or meat sold by weight, that weight is used. Otherwise ClimateCart uses a default weight for that product, such as a typical pack size, multiplied by the number of items. You can always correct the weight in the app.
• Products in the database: Agribalyse often contains several versions of the same food, prepared in different ways (for example salmon steamed, cooked or baked in the oven). ClimateCart only keeps the version as it is sold in the shop. In total, the ClimateCart database uses about 550 products from Agribalyse.
• Similar products: different products on a receipt can be linked to the same product in the database. Jupiler, Stella and Maes are all matched to "beer", so they get the same footprint per kg.
• Life-cycle stages: the footprint in the app adds up five stages: agriculture, processing, packaging, transport, and the supermarket. The Agribalyse database also contains a value for the consumption stage (storage and cooking at home), but this is left out since there is no information to calculate this impact. In the app, the supermarket stage is shown together with transport.
• Loose products: for products weighed in the shop, the packaging stage is left out.
• Broader matches: when a receipt line can only be linked to a product category (for example "cheese"), the average footprint of the products in that category is used.
• Brand footprints: for a few brands that publish the carbon footprint of their own products (Oatly, Quorn and Flora), that published value replaces the Agribalyse value. These products are marked with a star.

Source: Source ADEME, données AGRIBALYSE v3.1.1 - 2023 (Agribalyse, documentation).

Plant-based alternative

For meat, fish, dairy and other animal products, the app shows how your receipt would compare with a plant-based alternative.

• Swaps: each animal product is replaced by a plant-based product of the same kind (for example minced meat by plant-based mince).
• Protein, where it makes sense: for products such as cuts of meat, the weight of the alternative is adjusted so it provides the same amount of protein. For products where protein is less relevant, such as charcuterie, the alternative replaces the same weight.

Water and land use

The heatmap shows two more indicators from Agribalyse, calculated with the same EF 3.1 method:

• Water consumption: water consumed over the product's lifetime, weighted by how scarce water is where it is used.
• Land use: all land needed to make the product, and its effect on soil quality.

These indicators are shown as shares only (which products or food groups make up most of the total), not as absolute numbers. Their units (m³ world equivalent and points) are hard to interpret. For products with a brand footprint, the water and land values of the matching Agribalyse product are used.

Budget and comparisons

• Monthly budget: to stay in line with the 1.5 °C goal of the Paris Agreement, the carbon budget is about 2.5 tonnes CO₂e per person per year. Divided by 12, that is about 208 kg per month. This is the budget for your whole footprint, not only for food.
• Three types of eaters: in the analytics, your CO₂ per kg of food is compared with three typical diets:
  • High meat-eater (more than 100 g of meat per day): about 2.6 kg CO₂e per kg of food.
  • Low meat-eater (less than 50 g of meat per day): about 1.5 kg CO₂e per kg of food.
  • Vegetarian: about 1.0 kg CO₂e per kg of food.
  The diets come from a study of what 55 000 adults in the UK eat and drink. ClimateCart calculated the CO₂ per kg of each diet from its main food groups, with the same Agribalyse values as for your receipts.
• Car: an average new petrol car emits about 120 g CO₂ per km (exhaust only).
• Fridge: a fridge-freezer with energy label D uses about 200 kWh per year. With Belgium's 2025 electricity mix (0.18 kg CO₂ per kWh), that is about 36 kg CO₂ per year.
• Tree: a mature tree absorbs about 22 kg CO₂ per year.

The comparisons are rounded and are meant as an illustration.

Personal targets

With an account, you can set personal targets in your profile. ClimateCart follows them month by month, from the month you turn a target on. All receipts you saved with a date in that month count, also those saved before you turned the target on. The targets below are about what people eat. ClimateCart looks at what you buy, so your result is an estimate.

Protein balance

Protein from animals (meat, fish, dairy, eggs) usually has a higher environmental impact than protein from plants (beans, lentils, grains, nuts). This target follows the plant share of the protein in your groceries. Two reference points are shown on the slider:

• 60% plant: the target of the Flemish protein strategy and the Green Deal "Eiwitshift op ons bord": 60% of protein intake from plants by 2030. In 2014, people in Flanders got on average 40% of their protein from plants.
• 70% plant: the Planetary Health Diet of the EAT-Lancet Commission. The plant share of protein was calculated from the diet in the 2025 report and the protein content of each food group, which gives close to 70%.

How ClimateCart measures your protein balance:

• Protein per product: the protein content per 100 g comes from Ciqual 2025, linked to the products in the Agribalyse database.
• Animal share per product: for products made of several ingredients (for example a pizza or a ready meal), the animal share of the protein comes from the ingredient breakdown in Agribalyse 3.2. The amount of each ingredient is derived from that breakdown and multiplied by its protein content. Other products get the usual share of their product category.
• Monthly result: plant protein divided by all protein in the matched food products of that month's receipts (by receipt date). A month is on target when the rounded share is at least your target. If you change your target during a month, the last value counts for that month.

Seasonal fruit and vegetables

• In season: the fresh fruit and vegetables on your receipts are compared with a seasonal calendar for Belgium in the month of purchase. The calendar was compiled from Velt, Boerenbond and VLAM. Belgian produce that keeps well after harvest, such as apples and carrots in winter, also counts as in season.
• Monthly result: the share of the weight of your fruit and vegetables that was in season. Exotic products are left out. You set the minimum share you aim for; the same target applies to every month.
• Not every month is equally easy: in late winter and spring, far fewer products are in season than in summer and autumn.

Exotic fruit and vegetables

• Exotic: fruit and vegetables that never grow in Belgium, such as bananas, pineapple, mango, avocado and citrus fruit.
• Monthly result: the share of exotic products in the weight of all your fruit and vegetables, compared with the maximum you set.