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

PARALLEL SESSION 6B: FISHIERIES, SOIL, AND EMERGY METHODS 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
(phase 1) becomes the highest in both the two case studies. Indeed, it represented 85.59% of CO total flow
(due to a large use of fertilisers and pesticides) and 48.49% of OO total flow (due to the use of obsolete and
less efficient machineries that leaded to high consumption of e.g. diesel, electricity). “Phase 2”, “local resources”
and “human labour” have minor importance on total CO eMergy flow (9.07%, 4.33% and 1% respectively).
On the contrary, “human labour” represents the 25.10% of OO total eMergy, followed by “phase
2” (14.88%) and “local resources” (11.53%).
5. Conclusion
The approach introduced in the present study fits in the current growing interest towards the improvement
of environmental performances of agri-food products. Currently, the promotion of sustainability is gaining
further significance and companies are becoming more and more sensitive to the environment safeguarding
(e.g. developing eco-friendly products). This trend calls for integrated approaches concerning assessments
more concentrated on the overall production systems instead of assessments focused on the single processes
of the life cycle. Thus, the minimisation of environmental impacts by the mere use of cleaner production
technologies is no more sufficient. This study, through the parallel application of LCA and EME, provides a
large overview about the environmental sustainability of farm management choices. Outcomes from the
analysis agree with current literature findings and the combination of these two different approaches can lead
to more comprehensive and significant results, suitable for policy recommendations and improvement decisions.
The added value of this study consisted in identifying, through LCA results, weak points in environmental
terms and which process phases were improvable for the eco-profile of the final product, in addition
to the importance of local resources valorisation and renewability of different production managements, as
highlighted by EME. This approach points out that not always organic conductions mean best environmental
performances, efficiency and higher sustainability. Obviously, a deeper analysis is necessary to better understand
the organic vs. conventional topic, including socio-economic aspects in which EME can constitute a
valid framework.
6. References
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