The most widely accepted LCA structure is the one suggested by SETAC as described in Table 3.1. The term ‘life cycle analysis’ is often employed for the analysis stage of a life cycle assessment.
Goal definition (ISO 14040) is perhaps the most important component of LCA. The inventory (ISO 14041) is an analysis, qualitative and/or quantitative, of the resources used and the emissions generated in the life cycle. The impact assessment (ISO 14042) can be divided into classification, characterization and valuation (Andersson et al., 1994). The assessed impacts fall into three broad categories: human health, ecological health and resource use (Tansey and Worsley, 1995). Characterization is the aggrega- tion of inventory data within the impact categories by the use of equivalency factors (Andersson et al., 1994). It is a largely quantitative step that analyzes the relative con- tribution of the multiple inputs or outputs by category (Tansey and Worsley, 1995).
Valuation can be carried out either qualitatively or quantitatively by expert panels or by comparison of environmental loading profiles, respectively (Andersson et al., 1994;
Boudouropoulos and Arvantioyannis, 1999). Interpretation (ISO 14043) stands for conclusions based on the assessment and suggestion of improvement actions.
Table 3.1 Structure of LCA suggested by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC)
Analysis Goal definition and scooping
Inventory analysis
Assessment Impact assessment, which is divided into:
Classification Characterization Valuation
Improvement analysis Andersson et al., 1994, Tibor and Feldman, 1997
International Standards are playing a critically important role in all industries for national production, international terminologies, safety and health protection, meas- urements, analysis, quality control and environmental protection, particularly in the energy field, where standards for the interfaces in energy flows are indispensable, such as electric connectors, fueling devices, calibration methods and electrical safety.
Besides the specific standards for petroleum, coal, nuclear and hydro-power, hydrogen and the vast field of electricity, the energy standards series ISO 13600 allows the char- acterization, analysis and comparison of all energy systems and soon will issue a global energy statistics and planning matrix for the transition to environmentally- sound sustainable economics. These standards allow integrated resource planning, including all new renewable options, such as the increasingly important direct and indi- rect solar energy, co-generation, hybrid systems, small decentralized units, bio-energy, ambient temperature use by heat pumps and substitutions of muscle-powered systems or vice versa, besides the more efficient production and use of conventional finite and renewable energy-sources (Grob, 2003). The total cost of their emissions, their net gray, i.e. re-usable embedded energy, can be determined, total and relative efficiencies can be calculated and their life cycles and risks can be assessed with this new standard tool in conjunction with the many existing and emerging standards on specific energy systems or parts thereof (Figure 3.1).
Examples of LCA studies on food production systems
Most of the initially conducted LCA studies compared different packaging materials.
For example, for milk, a large number of studies has been carried out comparing sin- gle-use cartons with disposable and refillable bottles of both glass and polycarbonate.
An ecologically sound recycling and recovery of the packaging material strategy combines mechanical recycling with efficient feedstock recycling and energy tech- niques. The analysis clearly showed that mechanical recycling of the high-grade film and bottle fractions, which only accounted for about 30% of the plastic packaging of households, has already reached its limits (Boudouropoulos and Arvanitoyannis, 1999, 2000).
In the feedstock recycling and energy recovery sectors, the blast furnace process, thermolysis using the BASF process, monocombustion, for which pilot plants are only available abroad at present, and hydrogenation at the Kohle-Ol-Anlage are in the top group. Consequently, classification into mechanical recycling, feedstock recycling and energy recovery techniques is merely process-orientated and does not constitute an ecological evaluation (Rob, 1996). Table 3.2 provides a synoptic presentation of the LCA studies carried out on foods and (food) packaging materials.
Life cycle assessment (LCA), the systematic inventory and evaluation of environ- mental impacts of a product ‘from the cradle to the grave’, is an emerging tool. On one hand, it is used by governments, e.g. when establishing ecolabeling criteria for certain product groups or when defining mandatory re-use or recycling quotas as done
in the context of the German packaging ordinance. On the other hand, it is increas- ingly applied by companies for the identification of environmental weak spots in products and for product development (Grotz and Scholl, 1996; Oosterhuis et al., 1996; Rubik, 1997; Scholl and Nisius, 1998).
LCA methodology has become well known and accepted in both Europe and the USA and is a procedure used to quantify inputs and outputs related to a product or an activity system. It may be used to assess environmental performances of indus- trial and consumer goods from the very beginning of their production to the end of their use, both for internal (e.g. improvement of product performances) and exter- nal uses (e.g. communication or marketing) (Vigon and Jensen, 1995). LCA is a process:
to evaluate environmental burdens related to products, processes or activities, to identify potential impacts on the environment coming from energy or material consumptions, to identify and to eval- uate possible product improvements (SETAC, 1993).
Manufacturing Upgrading Maintenance
Outputs
Outputs from termination
Inputs
Output from decommissioning
the system Technical energy
system
Figure 3.1 Factors affecting the total cost of emissions (adapted from Grob, 2003)
Table 3.2 LCA studies on foods
Product (food) Country Effect Reference
Peas, bread and The Netherlands Environmental impacts from packaging in proportion Kooijman, 1993 milk products to other parts of the food supply system
Margarine The Netherlands Two margarines and two low-fat products were Vis et al., 1992 investigated, concentrating on the fat components and
packaging
Bread and meat Denmark Qualitative study with a very broad definition of Pedersen, 1992 environmental parameters
Canned cooked Austria Application of the Institute for ¨Okologische IOW Wien, 1992 products Wirtschaftsforschung’s eco-balance system. The study
involved four canning industries and one producer of packaging
Fruit yogurt Germany Comparison of processed products from ordinary and Ott, 1992 ecological agriculture
Bread, beer and Germany Comparison of processed products from ordinary and Ott, 1992
cheese ecological agriculture
Tomatoes and Switzerland Comparison of seven hydroponic systems and eight Hahn, 1992 cucumbers ordinary production systems (under glass, in tunnels,
and outdoor production)
Tomatoes Switzerland Comparison of seven different ways of producing Gysi and Reist, 1990 tomatoes under glass
Potatoes Switzerland Investigation of seven combinations of thermal, Jolliet, 1993 mechanical and chemical potato topping
Milk chain supply Sweden The total use of energy and packaging materials seems to Sonesson and Berlin, be critical to the outcome. More knowledge of the amount 2003
of wastage in households is required, both in absolute numbers and as influenced by the type of packaging
Ketchup Sweden Six alternative sub-systems, including packaging, Andersson and
production processing and transportation, were modeled and Ohlsson, 1999
simulated. The environmental impact categories included were energy use, global warming, acidification, eutrophication, photo-oxidant formation and the generation of radioactive waste. It was concluded that the contributions to acidification can be reduced significantly and the environmental profile of the product can be improved for either the type of tomato paste currently used or a less concentrated tomato paste
Milk production Spain Different sub-systems were identified and thoroughly Hospido et al., 2003 studied – farms, fodder factories and dairies – and even
though the collection of their inventory data took place throughout one complete year, some values were found to vary considerably. Raw milk production, specifically the agricultural phase, and packaging manufacture have been identified as the crucial elements. Other aspects such as formulation of animal food at farms and emission from boilers at dairies are also decisive when improvement actions are to be set up
Beer Greece The impact categories most affected by the beer Koroneos et al., 2005 production are the earth toxicity or heavy metals and the
(Continued)
Table 3.2 (Continued)
Product (food) Country Effect Reference
category of smog formation. Bottle production, followed by packaging and beer production are found to be the sub-systems that account for most of the emissions
Wild caught Norway The fishing phase for the cod and the feeding phase for Ellingsen and and farmed both salmon and chicken dominate for all environmental Aanondsen, 2006
salmon impacts considered. Chicken is most energy effective
followed by salmon and cod, which are almost on the same level. The area of sea floor affected by bottom trawling is around 100 times larger than the land area needed to produce the chicken feed for production of the 0.2 kg fillet. There is potential for improvement of environmental performance, both for salmon farming and cod fishing, especially when it comes to energy use
Danish fish Denmark Energy consumption is a key factor contributing to the Thrane, 2006 products environmental burden for all investigated fish products.
The (quantitative) LCA suggests that the environmental hotspot for flatfish is the fishing stage. The same applies to cod, Norway lobster, shrimp and prawn. Generally, however, the use and retail stages are also important, while the processing stage only represents an important impact potential for certain types of fish products (pickled herring, canned mackerel and mussels)
Fish The Netherlands Impacts such as climate change, stratospheric Pennington et al., 2004 ozone depletion, photo-oxidant formation (smog),
eutrophication, acidification, toxicological stress on human health and ecosystems, the depletion of resources and noise. The need exists to address these product-related contributions more holistically and in an integrated manner, providing complementary insights to those of regulatory/process-oriented methodologies
Canned tuna Spain The system under study included landing at harbor, Hospido et al., 2006 transport to the factory, processing inside the factory,
final product distribution to markets and use in households. The results show that processing accounted for the greatest percentage in all the impact categories, except human toxicity potential. Inside the factory, the production and transportation of tinplate was identified as the most significant contributor and, consequently, improvement actions were proposed and evaluated, such as an increase in the percentage of the recycled tinplate
Soft drink Israel A fair and globally sustainable comparison is feasible Ayalon et al., 2000 containers only if the costs of environmental burdens (or benefits)
are to be internalized in the price of the product
Egg packaging Greece PS packages contribute more to acidification potential, Zabaniotou and (polystyrene and winter and summer smog, while recycled paper egg Kassidi, 2003 recycled paper) packages contribute more to heavy metal and
carcinogenic substances impact. Paper eggcups have less environmental impact than the polystyrene ones
(Continued)
Table 3.2 (Continued)
Product (food) Country Effect Reference
Alternative Italy Issues pointed out during the analysis recommend De Monte et al., 2005 coffee packaging particular diligence regarding the selection of materials
used for packaging production, an element required during the design phase. The results of the study also show that the use of polylaminated bags instead of metallic cans in the case of small size packages could be an alternative, even though this solution does not favor material recycling
Environmental The Netherlands The systemic approach can calculate trade-offs along Gerbens-Leenes et al., sustainability in supply chains that make up a production system. The 2003
food production use of the method implies an extension of environmental
systems SCP towards the overall performance of a production
system. The final outcome is expressed in three performance indicators: the total land, energy and water requirement per kilogram of available food. For companies, the data generated can be used to compare trends over time, to compare results with targets and to benchmark a company against others. For consumers, data can be used to compare the environmental effects of various foods
Comparison of Singapore LCA was used to investigate, quantify and compare the Tan and Khoo, 2005 two packaging potential environmental impacts of the life cycles of two
materials; packaging materials, EPS and CPB inserts. The first LCA expanded cradle-to-gate study and impact assessment results polystyrene highlighted quantitatively the environmental benefits of (EPS) and redesigning the products to consume less material.
corrugated The next LCA study explored various waste scenarios for paperboard EPS and CPB inserts, displaying the positive and negative
(CPB) environmental impacts of landfilling and incineration
options, as well as transportation. The least overall damage caused to the environment for the ‘cradle-to- grave’ study of both EPS and CPB comes from increased incineration practices (90–100%) and the worst from landfilling
Reusing food Australia The life cycle impacts in all impact categories examined in Ross and Evans, 2003 packaging this study were less for the proposed EPSHIPS/PE shrink-
(plastic) wrap packaging than for the present EPS/PE packaging.
This is due to its lighter weight and also to the innovative recycling/re-use strategy for the new packaging system
Pesticides on Italy The life cycle assessment of impact of pesticides on Margni et al., 2002
humans and human health and ecosystems was determined by means
ecosystems of a full-fate analysis and exposure to toxic pollutants through different media and pathways, including residues in food, based on the behavior of the pesticides in air and the importance of transfers between soil and surface or groundwaters. For human toxicity, estimates of pesticide residues showed that food intake results in the highest toxic exposure, about 103to 105times higher than that induced by drinking water or inhalation. An intra-species extrapolation factor of 10 explained the relationship between acute (LC50) and chronic (NOEC) ecotoxicity, whereas it was not suitable for inter-species extrapolation
(Continued)
The ‘from cradle to grave’ perspective, which LCA can take into account, makes it possible to judge and improve environmental performances over the entire life cycle, as well as appraise embodied improvements at particular levels. Nevertheless, depend- ing on the specific requirements of a company, LCA may also be used in a limited per- spective (‘from process to process’), which can be of particular interest should the company wish to analyze carefully a limited part of the whole life cycle, the one under its own control (De Monte et al., 2005).
Table 3.2 (Continued)
Product (food) Country Effect Reference
Pest Spain Both the USES-LCA model and the empirical model Anton et al., 2004
management CST showed in general a higher level of potential toxicological contamination in greenhouses treated with CPM, impact in permitting a quantification of these values. Results greenhouses must be considered as relative values due to the level
of uncertainty of both methods
Human intake The Netherlands The human population intake fraction is on average Huijbregts et al., 2005 of toxic pollutants 105–108for organics and 103–104for inorganics,
depending on the emission compartment considered.
Chemical-specific human population intake fractions can be 1–2.7 orders of magnitude higher or lower compared to the typical estimates. For inorganics, the human population intake fractions highly depend on the assumption that exposure via food products can be modeled with constant bioconcentration factors. The environmental fate factor is on average 1011–1018 days m3for organics and 1010–1012days m3for inorganics, depending on the receiving environment and the emission compartment considered. Chemical-specific environmental fate factors can be 1–8 orders of magnitude higher or lower compared to the typical estimates
Food waste Australia Compared with the other three options, centralized Lundie and Peters,
management composting has a relatively poor environmental 2005
options performance due to the energy-intense waste collection
activities it requires. Implementing a separate collection and transportation system for organic waste results in relatively high environmental impacts due to the frequency of collections and the small quantities of green waste collected per household
Solid waste Spain Scenarios with energy recovery achieve better Bovea and Powell,
management environmental performances than scenarios without 2006
energy recovery. The scenario with emphasis on the recovery of the putrescible fraction performs slightly better than the one which emphasizes the quality of the recovered materials, for most of the impact categories and impact assessment methods
Wheat The Netherlands Comparison of wheat (only one herbicide treatment and Jolliet et al., 1996 only animal manure applied) to ordinary wheat (artificial
fertilizer and employment of growth-regulating agents)
As regards the potential applications of LCA, Azapagic (1999) from Hospido et al.
(2003) put forward the main uses as follows:
1 Identification of environmental improvement opportunities 2 Strategic planning or environmental strategy development 3 Product and process optimization, design and innovation 4 Environmental reporting and marketing.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an analytical tool for the systematic evaluation of the environmental aspects of a product or service system through all stages of its life cycle. A graphical description of LCA methodology based on the principles of ISO 14040 is shown in Figure 3.2.
The main applications of LCA are in:
1 Analyzing the origin of problems related to a particular product 2 Comparing improvement variants of a given product
3 Designing new products
4 Choosing among a number of comparable products (LCA part 1).
Life cycle assessment framework
Goal and scope
definition Inventory analysis Impact assessment
Interpretation
Direct applications
Product development
and improvement Strategic planning Public policy making
Marketing Other
Figure 3.2 Phases and applications of an LCA (ISO 14040, 1997)
Pennington et al. (2004) recently compiled a review on the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase, focusing on the key attributes of the supporting models and methodolo- gies. These models and methodologies provide LCA practitioners with the factors they need for calculating and cross-comparing indicators of the potential impact contribu- tions associated with the wastes, the emissions and the resources consumed that are attributable to the provision of the product in a study. ISO 14042, entitled ‘Life Cycle Assessment – Impact Assessment (LCIA)’, proposes to provide guidance on the impact assessment phase of LCA. This phase of LCA is aimed at evaluating the significance of potential environmental impacts using the results of the life cycle inventory analysis (Haklik, 1998). The environmental load unit taken from the natural resource or sub- stance effect index multiplied by the amount of the substance used or released produces a total environmental load value (ELV) for the particular product or process (Kuhre, 1995). Because of the inherent subjectivity in impact assessments, the most critical requirement for their conduct will be disclosure, so that decisions and assumptions can be clearly described and reported (Haklik, 1998). LCIA consists of both mandatory and optional elements, as illustrated in Figure 3.3 (ISO 14042, 2000):
1 Selection of the impact categories of interest, the indicators per impact category and the underlying models (a procedure also considered in the initial goal and scope phase of an LCA)
2 Assignment of the inventory data to respective impact category. Impact categories include climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, photo-oxidant formation (smog), eutrophication, acidification, water use and noise.
The food production industry requires large inputs of resources and causes several negative environmental effects. The food production systems are oriented and opti- mized to satisfy economic demands and the nutritional needs of a rapidly growing world population. Environmental issues, however, have not been given much atten- tion. There are many difficulties in conducting life cycle studies of food products.
Ideally, a complete study should include agricultural production, industrial refining, storage and distribution, packaging, consumption and waste management, all of which together comprise a large and complex system (Koroneos et al., 2005).