Towards better circular economy and life cycle assessment through systems thinking and examining the interrelationships among sustainability, food systems and diet

Lu, Tianchu

doi:10.14264/11db34c

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…agro-ecological systems) to reconfigure food production under climate change; and promoting a systemic behavioural change on the part of all stakeholders (decision-makers, implementers, scientists, farmers, processors, civil society organizations, businesses, and consumers). So, the broad scope of the SDGs requires holistic approaches, such as the integrated assessment of the three dimensions of sustainability Lu, 2020), to make sure that each step of the way, from production to disposal, is designed and developed in sustainable manners. Food chains have, in fact, their own specific features such as: seasonality of supply and demand; customer issues of traceability and risk management related to health, nutrition, and safety; and the environmental impact of food production, mainly due to extensive resource use, including water and land use, and to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and waste generation from agricultural production (Boye and Arcand, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental life cycle assessment for improved management of agri-food companies: the case of organic whole-grain durum wheat pasta in Sicily

Zingale

Guarnaccia

Timpanaro

et al. 2022

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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This study was developed to address the environmental issues associated with a high-quality pasta production process, as the essential starting point to identify the related hotspots and the feasible improvement potentials. Methods To this endPrimary data were collected in a small-size Sicilian pasta factory Senatore durum wheat landrace is cultivated and later is processed into whole-meal semolina and pasta, whilst secondary data were extrapolated from Ecoinvent v. 3.5 database, as available in the SimaPro 9.1.0.11 software. The environmental profile of pasta was assessed by adopting the EPD (2018) (v 1.01) impact assessment method, which is required for use in case of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). The environmental profile of pasta was analysed in terms of four different impact categories, namely global warming, eutrophication, acidification, and photochemical oxidation, as recommended by the PCR 2010:01 Uncooked pasta, developed in the framework of the International EPD System. ResultsThe obtained results, expressed in the form of equivalent indicators, suggest that cultivation is the phase contributing the largest impacts for all the midpoint categories considered by the LCIA method. In addition, it was observed that the contributions assessed in this study are highly comparable and aligned with those contained in the EPDs published in the pasta sector, specifically for the cultivation phase, which performs similarly to the only case of organic pasta EPD amongst those developed. ConclusionsAt the end, the study suggested that the cultivation of ancient varieties and landraces in organic and lowinput farming systems have a large potential for reducing the environmental impact of pasta. Finally, although specific, the results of the study may be of interest to researchers, LCA practitioners, farmers and producers, policymakers, and other stakeholders, and could support the implementation of environmental labels.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%