London West, UK - Antiques Are Green, a UK campaign group founded by Nigel Warboys, commissioned Carbon Clear to compare the carbon footprint of an English-made Regency antique chest of drawers with its Chinese-made modern equivalent.

The report shows that the greenhouse gases emitted to make, sell and restore the chests were 140kgCO2e for antique and 170kgCO2e for modern. But when their respective lifespans are taken into account, 195 years for antique and 15 years for modern, the antique chest of drawers emitted 0.72kgCO2e per year, while the modern chest of drawers emitted 11.35kgCO2e per year - which is sixteen times worse.

The figures allowed for transport of the wood by sailing ship, horse and cart, and the use of animal glue. It was assumed that the antique chest of drawers was kept within the same family from 1830 and was then sold twice, once between 1950-80 and again in 2010. During each sale the chest was transported in a light van along with other items to an auctioneer, on to a dealer, to a restorer, back to the dealer and finally, sold to a customer who used a car to take it home. Additional transport emissions were allowed for the first sale between 1950-80 when vehicles were less fuel-efficient. Carbon Clear also calculated the emissions for storage and restoration.

Based on greenhouse gas emissions, the conclusion was that antiques are greener than new. The carbon footprint of the manufacture and maintenance of the antique chest of drawers was 80 per cent of the footprint of the Chinese chest of drawers. When their respective lengths of life were taken into account the antique chest of drawers was only 6 per cent of the footprint of the Chinese one.

Carbon Clear used the British Standards Institute's publicly available specification 2050 for the environmental impact methodology.

Carbon Clear: Product Footprint Comparison
BSi: PAS 2050 Assessing the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services

Story Type:  News

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