LCA Food 2012 in Saint Malo, France! - Manifestations et colloques ...

PARALLEL SESSION 5A: FOOD LABELLING 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
• Fossil fuel depletion makes up between 6-20% (average 14%) of the overall impact. The highest relative
impacts (>15%) in this category are in scenarios modelled for apple, grape, blueberry, pasta from
local grown wheat and bottled beer life cycles.
• Water depletion makes up between 1-30% (average 12%) of the overall impact. The highest relative
impacts (>15%) in this category are in scenarios modelled for milk from cows fed with flood-irrigated
alfalfa, grapes in plastic bags, avocado and beer life cycles.
However on average lower range impacts:
• Eutrophication has a >20% impact for pasta, milk from cows fed with pivot-irrigated alfalfa and organic
chicken meat.
• Toxicity impacts have a >20% impact for milk.
The least significant environmental impact categories, with less than 10% contribution across all assessments,
are ozone depletion, ionising radiation, mineral depletion and impacts of land use. The relatively low
impacts from land use are perhaps surprising considering the significant use of land resources for agricultural
production.
3.2 Results by Life Cycle Stage
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Fig. 2 shows the results by life cycle stage.
Figure 9. Weighted impacts per life cycle stage
The results show an emphasis of impact in the earlier life cycle stages with:
• Raw materials and agriculture making up 26-69% (average 49%) of the overall impacts. The highest
relative impacts (>55%) in this stage are in scenarios modelled for carton-packaged wine, pasta from
imported wheat, milk, chicken meat and blueberry life cycles.
• Production making up 4-63% (average 23%) of the overall impact. The highest relative impacts
(>30%) in this stage are in scenarios modelled for avocado, apple, and grapes life cycles, all including
chilled packinghouses.
• Packaging materials making up 0-39% (average 13%) of the overall impact. The highest relative impacts
(>25%) in this stage are in scenarios modelled for beer, wine in bottles and blueberries transported
locally.
Post-manufacturer’s gate makes up an average of 15%, with the notable exception of pasta from local
wheat where the use stage makes up 29% of the overall impact, primarily from cooking.