Life cycle environmental and economic impact of a food waste recycling-farming system: a case study of organic vegetable farming in Japan

Abstract

Purpose Bio-based recycling systems and agricultural production using recycled materials are often evaluated separately. This study performs an environmental and socio-economic life cycle assessment (LCA) of a food waste treatment and spinach farming system in Japan. The environmental and economic tradeoffs of introducing a recycling system and the net environmental benefit of the substitution of market fertilizer considering operation changes are also examined. Methods Three scenarios were developed and compared. In the conventional (CV) scenario, food waste is collected, incinerated, and disposed of in landfill, and the farmer uses market organic fertilizer. The on-site composting (OC) scenario processes food waste using an on-site garbage disposer and transports compost to a nearby spinach farmer. Food waste in the centralized composting (CC) scenario is transported to a centralized composting facility and resultant compost is sent to the farm. Primary data were obtained from field experiments and interviews. Non-greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the field and nitrogen leaching to water systems were simulated using the denitrification-decomposition (DNDC) model. The environmental LCA targeted climate change, eutrophication, and waste landfill. An input-output analysis estimated socio-economic indicators, namely gross added value and employment inducement effect. Results and discussionThe scenario with the lowest impact is the CC scenario. Climate change and eutrophication impacts are highest in the OC scenario and waste landfill impacts are most significant in the CV scenario. The weighted impact by LIME2 can be reduced by 47% in the CC scenario and 17% in the OC scenario due to the recycling of food waste instead of dumping in the landfill. The difference in socio-economic indicators between the scenarios was relatively small, although the CV scenario encouraged more employment. The substitution effect of composting, as well as the environmental impact reduction of replacing market organic fertilizer with compost, will result in 28.7% of the avoided impacts in GHG emissions. Conclusions Both composting scenarios are feasible from an environmental and socio-economic perspective when compared with conventional organic production, although there is a tradeoff between waste landfill and GHG emissions for the on-site composting system. However, the OC scenario needs to save electricity to improve its environmental competitiveness with the CV scenario. When considering the substitution effect of composting, it is recommended to take into account that agricultural operation also changes.

A Critical Review of Data Science Applications in Resource Recovery and Carbon Capture from Organic Waste

“…The characterization factors for the different impact categories are provided in the various LCA methodologies (Table , Table S3). − ,− In general, majority of the LCA methods were either developed by academic institutions or environmental consultants in Europe, except for TRACI (Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental Impacts) and GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies), which were developed in USA (Table ). In the RRCC literature, ReCiPe (RIVM, CML and, PRé Consultants) and ILCD (International reference Life Cycle Data System) reported the most (10) impact categories, followed by CML (Centrum voor Milieukunde Leiden), which reported 9 categories (Table ).…”

Evaluation of Benefits and Health Co-Benefits of GHG Reduction for Taiwan’s Industrial Sector under a Carbon Charge in 2023–2030

“…This makes the comparison among results meaningful and reliable. As such, the EIO-LCA becomes one of the more popular assessment models at the aggregate sector level [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ].…”

Food waste to bioenergy: current status and role in future circular economies in Indonesia

“…Thus, the impacts at each stage can be managed and mitigated where necessary (Dolci et al, 2021;Kothari et al, 2020;Sillero et al, 2021;Yoshikawa et al, 2021). LCA has four key elements include defining the goal and scope of the assessment, developing an inventory, the impact assessment, and the interpretation of the assessment.…”