(1) Background: Spain, Italy, and Greece are the world's top olive oil producers. In recent decades, these countries have gradually diversified their farming system in the olive groves. The element of innovation with respect to the state of the art is that this paper aims to compare the environmental performance of different farming systems in a European context by performing a simplified Life Cycle Assessment; (2) Methods: Environmental performance was calculated according to the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment and the "Guidance for the implementation of the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)". Average data were considered in order to describe a system with a great degree of complexity and high spatial heterogeneity; (3) Results: The study highlights the difficulty of identifying the farming method that presents the best environmental performance in each of the impact categories considered. In Greece, the lowest use of diesel, electricity, and water brings about advantages for many impact categories, albeit with low yields. While the highest olive yield obtained in Italy has positive consequences in terms of global warming, the highest use of fertilisers, in many cases, entails higher environmental impacts. On the other hand, in Spain the highest use of organo-phosphorous pesticides entails the highest impacts of eco-toxicity; (4) Conclusion: the reduction of the use of fertilizers and pesticides, as well as water conservation, are important issues which require the optimization of timing and techniques in order to achieve environmental advantages.
Abstract:In the globalized market, the certification of Environmental Management Systems (EMS), according to ISO 14001 standard, introduced about 20 years ago and reviewed in 2015, is becoming increasingly strategic.In the last decade, the implementation of the EMSs was widely "metabolized" by organizations, because in this certification scheme, the decision maker recognizes, in the face of significant economic and organizational efforts, the opportunity to enjoy significant benefits from a variety of critical success factors. In fact, all over the world, the number of certified organizations has grown steadily.However, many organizations still tend to use the tool just because they are interested in grasping some "opportunities" (simplifications in permits, financial and banking incentives). Therefore, in some cases, there is a high risk that the certification may have the sole aim of improving the company's image, so-called "Green washing, " while in other cases, the many changes required for the proper implementation of the certification create the belief that such a system is "much paper work and few benefits".In this work, we present the results of a survey of organizations certified with ISO 14001:2004 in the province of Foggia (Italy) in order to: -deepen the elements for organizations represent the "utility" and "difficulties" in the implementation of the EMS; -assess the level of ability of organizations to quantify both the "costs" incurred to achieve and maintain the EMS and the economic "benefits", organizational and environmental generated from its implementation, and the related time to achieve them; -understand the future prospects of the organizations in relation to the commitment to continue to bring additional tools for the continuous improvement of environmental performance. CERTYFIKACJA ISO 14001: KORZYŚCI, KOSZTY I OCZEKIWANIA ORGANIZACJIStreszczenie: Na zglobalizowanym rynku certyfikacja systemów zarządzania śro-dowiskowego na zgodność z wymaganiami normy ISO 14001, wprowadzona około 20 lat temu i znowelizowana w 2015 r., staje się elementem strategicznym organizacji. W ostatniej dekadzie wdrożony SZŚ był powszechnie "metabolizowany" przez organizacje, ponieważ w tym schemacie certyfikacji to decydent, w obliczu znacznych wysiłków ekonomicznych i organizacyjnych, może osiągnąć duże korzyści wynikające z uwzględniania krytycznych czynników sukcesu. W rzeczywistości na całym świecie liczba certyfikatów ISO 14001 stale rośnie. Jednak wiele organizacji nadal wykorzystuje to narzędzie tylko dlatego, że jest zainteresowane osiągnięciem nielicznych korzyści (uproszczenie dokumentacji, zachęty finansowe, bankowe). Dlatego też w niektórych przypadkach istnieje duże ryzyko, że certyfikat ISO 14001 może służyć tylko poprawie wizerunku firmy, tzw. "greenwashing", podczas gdy w innych przypadkach wiele zmian wymaganych dla odpowiedniego wdrożenia i certyfikacji SZŚ może stwarzać wrażenie, że jest to system przynoszący "dużo papierkowej pracy i niewiele korzyści". W niniejszym artykule przedstawiono wyn...
PurposeThis study examines the relationships between the sizes of Coop Alleanza 3.0 retail outlets and indicators (in value) of surplus food (SF), real food donation (FD) and potential food waste (FW) from 2013 to 2019.Design/methodology/approachRetail outlets were grouped by size class and geographic macro-area. The authors adopt a procedure composed of Kendall's tau-b coefficient with ties (ttest) and the coefficient of determination (R²). The authors studied bread, pastries, fruits and vegetables as representative food categories.FindingsAmong the hypermarket group (Emilia-Romagna Region and those in group with Apulia Region), the study found the t-test with many high negative relationship and related R2 high. Results showed that size significantly influenced the trends of the indicators for the food categories analyzed. This allowed the authors to hypothesize the presence of inefficiencies in these groups.Originality/valueFrom a practical point of view, the procedure can provide Coop Alleanza 3.0, with a dashboard to analyze surplus food management (SFM) progress within its retail groups. This can provide a warning signal (WS) to trigger a management control system. If necessary, it can lead to corrective measures, such as internal optimization, by adopting appropriate work procedures. In this sense, the procedure is scalable and transferable at the international middle and micro-scales. This approach facilitates the transition to a retail circular economy transition.
The accessibility of a natural protected area should be seen as a possibility for people with special needs to access to a structure or open space in order to fully enjoy their services and activities. The European Union has issued numerous documents on the accessibility and a resolution on equal opportunities for disabled people in all fields, including leisure time. Also, in Italy there are very detailed regulations on accessibility and social inclusion, both at the state level and at the region level of the individual. Following these rules, several Italian national parks have adopted guidelines to make their areas accessible and provide physically challenged people with all the services. The aim of this paper is to examine legislation and best practices adopted to make accessible the Italian national parks to people with disabilities.
In this paper, the authors aim to present the methodology used to measure social sustainability, which is being implemented in a research project called “Innovations in organic agriculture to improve the sustainability of Apulian farms for cereal and industrial crops.” The authors used the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA), based on the life cycle assessment, particularly the subcategory assessment method. The authors developed a questionnaire to collect information about workers and the time worked (weekly working hours, working weeks) in each plot of the experimentation plan. The authors administered the questionnaire to multiple recipients categorized as three identified types of stakeholders (workers, local community, consumers) to triangulate the answers. The use of the S-LCA in experiments in the agricultural sector, which presents critical issues in the social sustainability of production, could become a strategic tool for achieving sustainable development in agri-food sector.
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