LCA studies of food products as background for environmental product declarations

Schau, Erwin M.; Fet, Annik Magerholm

doi:10.1065/lca2007.12.372

Cited by 227 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The origins of the LCA method can be traced to the late 1960s and to the context of industrial America (Hunt and Franklin, 1996), and many studies have been conducted to help adapt this system to the agricultural sector (Audsley et al, 1997). The LCA method is currently considered a very useful instrument for comparing products, processes and services and serving as the basis for formulating an environmental product declaration (Schau and Fet, 2008). The results of an LCA analysis are usually presented in a range of different impact categories, such as global warming, acidification, nitrification, ozone reduction, and toxicity (Pennington et al, 2004;Gunady et al, 2012).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A life cycle assessment of non-renewable energy use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with blueberry and raspberry production in northern Italy

Girgenti

Peano

Bounous

et al. 2013

Science of The Total Environment

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A life cycle assessment of non-renewable energy use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with blueberry and raspberry production in northern Italy

Girgenti

Peano

Bounous

et al. 2013

Science of The Total Environment

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“…As discussed, it is increasingly recognized that mass‐based assessments of agrifood systems are often inadequate at capturing the complexities of both food production (Martínez‐Blanco, Antón, Rieradevall, Castellari, & Muñoz, 2011) and wider supply chains (Schau & Fet, 2008) and, as a result, nutrition is rapidly becoming a key aspect of food LCA studies (Nemecek, Jungbluth, i Canals, & Schenck, 2016). Sonesson et al.…”

Section: Effects Of Farming Systems On Meat Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Framework for life cycle assessment of livestock production systems to account for the nutritional quality of final products

McAuliffe

Takahashi

Lee

2018

Food and Energy Security

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Life cycle assessment (LCA) is widely regarded as a useful tool for comparing the environmental impacts of multiple livestock production systems. While LCA results are typically communicated in the form of environmental burdens per mass unit of the end product, it is increasingly becoming recognized that the product quality also needs to be accounted for to truly understand the value of a farming system to society. To date, a number of studies have examined environmental consequences of different food consumption patterns at the diet level; however, few have addressed nutritional variations of a single commodity attributable to production systems, leaving limited insight into how on‐farm practices can be improved to better balance environment and human nutrition. Using data from seven livestock production systems encompassing cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry, this paper proposes a novel framework to incorporate nutritional value of meat products into livestock LCA. The results of quantitative case studies demonstrate that relative emissions intensities associated with different systems can be dramatically altered when the nutrient content of meat replaces the mass of meat as the functional unit, with cattle systems outperforming pig and poultry systems in some cases. This finding suggests that the performance of livestock systems should be evaluated under a whole supply chain approach, whereby end products originating from different farm management strategies are treated as competing but separate commodities.

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“…The LCA methodology is considered a very useful tool for comparing products, processes and services and formulating environmental product declarations (Schau and Fet, 2008). The results of an LCA analysis are generally presented in a range of different impact categories, such as global warming, acidification, nitrification, ozone depletion and toxicity (Pennington et al;2004;Gunady et al, 2012).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From “farm to fork” strawberry system: Current realities and potential innovative scenarios from life cycle assessment of non-renewable energy use and green house gas emissions

Girgenti

Peano

Baudino³

et al. 2014

Science of The Total Environment

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From "farm to fork" strawberry system: Current realities and potential innovative scenarios from life cycle assessment of non--renewable energy use and green house gas emissions The definitive version is available at: doi10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.133 From "farm to fork" strawberry system: current realities and potential innovative scenarios from life cycle assessment of non--renewable energy use and green houses gas emissions In this study, we analysed the environmental profile of the strawberry industry in Northern Italy. The analysis was conducted using two scenarios as reference systems: strawberry crops grown in unheated plastic tunnels using currently existing cultivation techniques, post--harvest management practices and consumption patterns (scenario 1) and the same strawberry cultivation chain in which some of the materials used were replaced with bio--based materials (scenario 2). In numerous studies, biodegradable polymers have been shown to be environmentally friendly, thus potentially reducing environmental impacts. These materials can be recycled into carbon dioxide and water through composting. Many materials, such as Mater--BI® and PLA®, are also derived from renewable resources. The methodology chosen for the environmental analysis was a life cycle assessment (LCA) based on a consequential approach developed to assess a product's overall environmental impact from the production system to its usage and disposal. In the field stage, a traditional mulching film (non--biodegradable) could be replaced with a biodegradable product. This change would result in waste production of 0 kg/ha for the bio--based product compared to 260 kg/ha of waste for polyethylene (PE). In the post--harvest stage, the issue addressed was the use and disposal of packaging materials. The innovative scenario evaluated herein pertains to the use of new packaging materials that increase the shelf life of strawberries, thereby decreasing product losses while increasing waste management efficiency at the level of a distribution platform and/or sales outlet. In the event of product deterioration or non--sale of the product, the packaging and its contents could be collected together as organic waste without any additional processes because the packaging is compostable according to EN13432. Scenario 2 would achieve reductions of 20% in the global warming potential and non--renewable energy impact categories.

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LCA studies of food products as background for environmental product declarations

Cited by 227 publications

References 42 publications

A life cycle assessment of non-renewable energy use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with blueberry and raspberry production in northern Italy

A life cycle assessment of non-renewable energy use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with blueberry and raspberry production in northern Italy

Framework for life cycle assessment of livestock production systems to account for the nutritional quality of final products

From “farm to fork” strawberry system: Current realities and potential innovative scenarios from life cycle assessment of non-renewable energy use and green house gas emissions

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