Post on 18-Nov-2018
Voluntary tools for environmental
management
University of Padova
A.A. 2014-2015
Second Cycle Degree Programme (MSc Level) in Environmental Engineering
Alessandro Manzardo, PhD
Environmental Impact Assessment
The market is demanding for green
production and products
Over 100 billion euros will be invested in Italy to the
latest requirement of the 2020 European Policy (IEFE-
Bocconi 2009)
To restart economic growth towards low-carbon ecnomy
…investements for low carbon technologies and markets will
be the 4% of the world GDP within 18 months (Leeds
University 2009)
“The world has its best chance in decades to make serious
progress on both the climate and economic fronts” (Ban
Ki-moon-United nations 2009)
The main bank gorpu in the owrld are working togheter to set
specific investments fund for those companies that are
working for cleaner production and consumption
(CDP,2009)
The Green Consumer profile
“Despite of ecnomic crisis, the green products
market share is growing fast to 62%. Conusmers
seems to pay even more attention when looking at
social responsibility. ” Carbon Trust 2009
78
80
84
52
84
61
85
0 20 40 60 80 100
USA
Canada
UK
Giappone
Germania
Francia
Italia
Pagherebbero il
10% in più per un
prodotto fatto
rispettando la
società e
l'ambiente
Fonte:Camera di Commercio di Milano - 2005
Risks related to resource availability
•Physical Risks: access to water resources and water related services.
•Compliance Risks: regulation and administrative procedures
•Market Risks: Corporate Responsability and reputation
•Financial Risks: water and energy costs rising, fall in sells and profits as a
consequence of above mentioned risks
COMPANIES NEED TOOLS TO ASSESS AND MANAGE ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACTS RELATED TO WATER
WATER ENERGY
CESQA 5
ISO standards
An International Standard consists in a set of requirements used to
accomplish a task in a consistent manner recognized at international level
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest
developer and publisher of International Standards
Main characteristics:
•Result from a transparent and consesus-based process
•Based on principles of transparency, openess,
impartiality and voluntariety
•Voluntary Application
TERMINOLOGY ISO 14050
PROCESS ORIENTED PRODUCT ORIENTED
Water footprint ISO 14046
ISO/TR 14073
EMS ISO/DIS 14001 - ISO 14004; ISO
14005; ISO 14006
Audit ISO 19011, ISO 14015
EPE ISO 14031; ISO/TS 14033
ISO/NP 14034
Communication ISO 14063
Green House Gas ISO 14064 – part 1,2,3; ISO 14065;
ISO 14066; ISO/TR 14069
Material flow cost accounting ISO 14051
Life Cycle Assessment ISO 14040-44; ISO/TR 14047
ISO/TS 14048 ISO/TR 14049
ISO/DTS 14071
Ecolabelling ISO 14020, ISO 14021 ISO 14024, ISO 14025
ISO /WD 14026
Product environmental aspects ISO/TR 14062, ISO Guide 64, ISO
14045
Organizational LCA ISO/TS 14072
Product carbon ISO/TS 14067
Supply chain GHG ISO/TR 14069
Voluntary tools for environmental management
HDPE Botttle
Stock of HDPE
grains in Silos
and Quality
Control
Plastic
Extrusion
Trimming and
sterilization
(H2O)
Filling and
capping Secondary
packaging
Final Product
Stock
Bottle Blowing
What the Company should be aware of
(environmental impact perspective)?
Beverage Carton
Stock of rolls
Beverage
carton Material
Filling and
capping
Secondary
packaging
Final Product
Stock
What the Company should be aware of
(environmental impact perspective)?
What process would you go for?
Attenzione
problematiche
ambientali
Metodi e tecniche per comprendere, valutare,
ridurre gli impatti di prodotti (sia quelli realizzati,
sia quelli che, una volta utilizzati, devono essere
smaltiti)
Acqua risorsa
scarsa
• Tema centrale all’interno del dibattito mondiale
• Studio di problematiche legate all’acqua è
divenuto oggi molto importante
1. Confrontare e applicare due metodi di analisi 1. Confrontare e applicare due metodi di analisi
ambientale (life cycle assessment e water
footprint) a due tipologie di imballaggio per il latte
2. Confrontare i risultati di uno studio di analisi del ciclo
di vita comparativo utilizzando due diversi metodi di
valutazione degli impatti
Tetra Brik Aseptic
1000 base
(TBA 1000 base)
Bottiglia in
HDPE
OBIETTIVI
LAVORO
Beverage Carton production
PET
grains
Extrusion
Lamination
Final Product
Stock
Alumin
um Foil Paper
…..What if the company have to produce the
beverage cartons by itself?
CESQA 12
Life Cycle Approach
Look at products, processes and services with a cradle to gate approach
in order not to shift impacts from one stage of the life cycle to another!
FROM CRADLE
TO GRAVE
The very firts analysis are from the 1969 when
Coca Cola wanted to understand which was
the best packaging for its drink
Glass? Plastic? or Alluminium can?
which of this material is the best for reuse at the
end of life?
Which is the best management strategy at the
end of life of the product?
Reuse? Disposal?
HISTORY OF PRODUCT BASED LCA
First studies (early ’70)
Energy Efficiency
Raw material conusmption
Waste management
Development (’80, ’90)
Corporate responsibility
Boom (1992)
UN Earth Summit
Europe(2005)
Key role in the Europena Policy on Envrionment
Petrol crisis
“LCA is among the most promising new tools for a wide
range of environmental management tasks”
Ecolabel, EPD, transports, recycling, plastic material..
Resouces analysis, focus on
specific issues
HISTORY OF PRODUCT BASED LCA
Life cycle approach: potential applications
Focus on environmental issues form the
very beginning of the design processes
leads to lower environmental impacts and
costs
2. Design:
3. Marketing
Management: < environmental Impacts
> Material and energy efficiency
< input
< waste
< costs
CESQA©
16
LCA ed ecodesign
En. Impact
Product cost
Life cycle cost paid
by stakeholders
Cost definition
€,
Environmental
Impacts
x
Concept
x
Pilot
x
Market
Design
Production
Product market life
End of life
Il ciclo di vita del prodotto/servizio
A B N X Y
Org C Product
Customer Use
Org Y End of Life
Treatment
Org. B Components
Org. A Raw material
PRODUCTS
Potential Integrated approach O
R
G
A
N
I
Z
A
T
I
O
N
ANALYTIC
TOOLS
MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS
Environmental Management Systems
(ISO 14001)
• part of an organization's (3.16) management system used to develop and implement its environmental policy (3.11) and manage its environmental aspects (3.6)
• Note 1: A management system is a set of interrelated elements used to establish policy and objectives and to achieve those objectives.
• Note 2: A management system includes organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures (3.19), processes and resources.
ISO 14001 The plan-do-chek-act approach
Continuous
improvement
Environmental
Policy
Planning
Implementation
and operation
Checking
Management
review
Plan: establish
objectives and
processes needed
to provide results
according to
environmental policy
Do: implement the
processes
Check: monitor and
measure processes
respecting
environmental
policy, objectives,
target and legal
requirements and
to report the results
Act: consolidate and
implement actions to
improve continuously the
EMS performance
INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL
REVIEW
Initial environmental Review INITIAL
REVIEW
Determine the ineteractions between the organizationa nd the environmentad
and identify potential significant impacts:
• Aspects identification
• Identification of impacts and their significance
INITIAL
REVIEW
The organization shall establish, implement, maintain procedure(s) for:
b) To determine those aspects that have or can have significant impact/s
on the environment (i.e. significant environmental aspects).
The organization shall document this information and keep it up to date.
The organization shall ensure that the significant environmental aspects
are taken into account in establishing, implementing, and maintaining
its environmental management system.
Assessing the significance
Initial environmental Review
• Include a commitment to continual improvement and prevention of pollution
• Includes a commitment to comply with applicable legal requirements and the other
requirements it subscribes
• is appropriated to the nature, scale and environental impacts of its activities,
products and services
• Provides the framework for setting and reviewing environmental objectives and
targets
• is documented, implemented, maintained and communicated to all persons
working for or on behalf of the organization
• is available to the public
CONTENTS
OTHER CONDITIONS FOR THE CONTENTS
APPLICATION AND COMMUNICATION
Top management shall define the organization’s environmental policy and ensure
that
Environmental Policy ENVIRONMENTAL
POLICY
Policy Objective and
targets
Legal
requirements
Technology
oiptions
Financial
requirements
Significant
environmental
aspects
Operational
requirements
Interested
parties
Objectives, targets and programme/s PLAN
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY PLANNING
Reduce impacts related
to climate change
Objective 1
Minimize the emissions
of GHG along teh supply chain
Targets 1
Reduce the 15% of the energy
used in the primary packaging line
within 2020
Objective, targets and programme (s) PLAN
Actions 1) Identify packaging alternatives
2) verify potential climate change
impacts
3 implement the best solution
What process would you go for?
Attenzione
problematiche
ambientali
Metodi e tecniche per comprendere, valutare,
ridurre gli impatti di prodotti (sia quelli realizzati,
sia quelli che, una volta utilizzati, devono essere
smaltiti)
Acqua risorsa
scarsa
• Tema centrale all’interno del dibattito mondiale
• Studio di problematiche legate all’acqua è
divenuto oggi molto importante
1. Confrontare e applicare due metodi di analisi 1. Confrontare e applicare due metodi di analisi
ambientale (life cycle assessment e water
footprint) a due tipologie di imballaggio per il latte
2. Confrontare i risultati di uno studio di analisi del ciclo
di vita comparativo utilizzando due diversi metodi di
valutazione degli impatti
Tetra Brik Aseptic
1000 base
(TBA 1000 base)
Bottiglia in
HDPE
OBIETTIVI
LAVORO
DO
Goal and scope definition
Objective of the study
• Determine which packaging system is better to contain the innovative
free range milk with the lowest potential environmental impacts.
• The results will be used by the management to take decision on how to
equip the new production site.
• The results are not intended to be disclosed to the public
Function and functional unit (….the reporting unit) Contain one litre of milk
Product Systems All the processes involved in the production, distribution and disposal of HDPE
bottle and Beverage Cartons in Italy
DO
emissions
BOTTLE
steam water
water electric powerelectric power methane
methane other fuels PACKAGED
other fuels steam PRODUCT emissions
HDPE waste
air emissions
caps, labels, seals
HDPE waste
emissions
HDPE waste matters
* outside the system boundaries
emissions emissionsemissions
RAW MATERIALS EXTRACTION
AND MANUFACTURING:
BOTTLE
PRODUCTION BOTTLE FILLING
AND
PACKAGING
TRANSPORT
Virgin HDPE
Titanium dioxide
Black carbon
*TRANSPORT TO LARGE RETAIL
CENTERS
AUXILIARY MATERIALS
EXTRACTION AND
MANUFACTURING:*LARGE RETAIL CENTERS AND
TRANSPORT TO RETAILERS
TRASPORT
Bottle top
Labels
Seals
*RETAILERS AND TRANSPORT TO
CONSUMERS
garbage
dump
disposal
52%
TRANSPORT *USE
WASTE MATTERS
TREATMENT*TRANSPORT
material
recovery
24%
heat
treatment
24%
END OF LIFE
heat treatment 100%
Goal and scope definition DO
emissionsemissions emissions emissions
emissions
hydrogen peroxide
electric power
compressed airsteam
cooling water
strip emissions
electric power lubricating oil emissions methane PACKAGED
gas oil FOIL-LINED PACKAGE PRODUCT
refrigerants
emissions
Waste: aluminium, paper, polyethylene
Refuse: cleaning clothes with inkpart of machineries, ferrous and
non-ferrous wreckages
* outside the system boundaries
material
recovery
37,6%
heat
treatment
12,7%
garbage
dump
disposal
49,7%
*TRANSPORT
WASTE MATTERS TREATMENT
Photopolymer
TRANSPORT *USE
FILLING PACKAGING
emissions
TRANSPORT
Cardboard
Pallet*RETAILERS AND TRANSPORT TO
CONSUMERSShrink film
waste (aluminium, paper,
polyethylene)
*TRANSPORT TO LARGE RETAIL
CENTERS
AUXILIARY
MATERIALS
EXTRACTION AND
MANUFACTURING :*LARGE RETAIL CENTERS AND
TRANSPORT TO RETAILERSTRANSPORT
paper: recyclealuminium + polyethylene:
energy recovery
END OF LIFE
Cardboard cores
RAW MATERIALS
EXTRACTION AND
MANUFACTURING:
PRODUCTION
Paper
Aluminium foil
Polyethylene
Ink
TRANSPORT
Goal and scope definition
Potential approaches:
-Gate to gate Only production processes are considered
-Cradle to gate from raw materials to the output of a specific
stage of the life cycle such as production…
- Cradle to grave encompasses all the life cycle of the products
Inventory analysis consists of the gatahering of all relevant data
(material and energy flows ) of the products systems Input-output
approach).
Referred to
the product system
Input-output includes:
Use of resources
Release to air, soil, warter
These data are collected in reference withe the objective of the study
(e.g. focusing on climate change we would collect data on GHG
emissions).
Impact assessment are based on these data.
PRIMARY DATA: directly measured and collected on the field
SECONDARI DATA: from data base!
TERTIARY DATA: from estimation
Life Cycle Inventory Analysis DO
IMPACT CATEGORIES ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
Renewable sources deplation Use of resources
Non Renewable sources deplation Use of resources
Climate Change (Carbon Footprint) Emissions to air
Ozone layer deplation Emissions to air
Human Toxicity Emissions to air, water, soil
Eco Toxicity Emissions to wateer and soils
Photochemical effect Emissions to air
Acidification Emissions to air
Eutrophication Emissions to air, water, soil
Noise Noise production
Life Cycle Impact Assessment
Climate change impacts of HDPE Bottle
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
g CO2e
Raw materials
Ancillary Mterials
Transportation of rawmaterials
Transportation ofancillary materials
Beverage Cartonproduction
Filling and Packaging(primary+ secondary)
Transportation of scraps
Scraps end of lifemanagement
End of Life
DO
Climate change impacts of Beverage Carton
0,00 10,00 20,00 30,00 40,00 50,00 60,00 70,00 80,00 90,00
g CO2e
Raw materials
Ancillary Mterials
Transportation of rawmaterialsTransportation ofancillary materialsBeverage CartonproductionFilling and Packaging(primary+ secondary)Transportation of scraps
Scraps end of lifemanagementEnd of Life
DO
Eco-profile (Eco-indicator 99)
Attenzione
problematiche
ambientali
Metodi e tecniche per comprendere, valutare,
ridurre gli impatti di prodotti (sia quelli realizzati,
sia quelli che, una volta utilizzati, devono essere
smaltiti)
Acqua risorsa
scarsa
• Tema centrale all’interno del dibattito mondiale
• Studio di problematiche legate all’acqua è
divenuto oggi molto importante
1. Confrontare e applicare due metodi di analisi 1. Confrontare e applicare due metodi di analisi
ambientale (life cycle assessment e water
footprint) a due tipologie di imballaggio per il latte
2. Confrontare i risultati di uno studio di analisi del ciclo
di vita comparativo utilizzando due diversi metodi di
valutazione degli impatti
Tetra Brik Aseptic
1000 base
(TBA 1000 base)
Bottiglia in
HDPE
OBIETTIVI
LAVORO
Attenzione
problematiche
ambientali
Metodi e tecniche per comprendere, valutare,
ridurre gli impatti di prodotti (sia quelli realizzati,
sia quelli che, una volta utilizzati, devono essere
smaltiti)
Acqua risorsa
scarsa
• Tema centrale all’interno del dibattito mondiale
• Studio di problematiche legate all’acqua è
divenuto oggi molto importante
1. Confrontare e applicare due metodi di analisi 1. Confrontare e applicare due metodi di analisi
ambientale (life cycle assessment e water
footprint) a due tipologie di imballaggio per il latte
2. Confrontare i risultati di uno studio di analisi del ciclo
di vita comparativo utilizzando due diversi metodi di
valutazione degli impatti
Tetra Brik Aseptic
1000 base
(TBA 1000 base)
Bottiglia in
HDPE
OBIETTIVI
LAVORO
DO
INPUT OUTPUT
a) results of internal audits and evaluations of
compliance with legal requirements;
b) communication(s) from external interested
parties, including complaints;
c) the environmental performance of the
organisation;
d) the extent to which objectives and targets
have been met;
e) status of corrective and preventive actions;
f) follow-up actions from previous
management reviews;
g) changing circumstances, including
developments in legal and other
requirements related to its environmental
aspects; and
h) recommendations for improvement
Any decisions and actions related to
possible changes to
• environmental policy,
• objectives,
• targets and
• ther elements of the environmental
management system,
consistent with the commitment to
continual improvement.
E
V
I
E
W
R
Check and Act - continuos
improvement
WHAT CAN WE DO NEXT TO
IMPROVE THE PRODUCTION
SYSTEM?
Product Carbon Footprint
Carbon footprint: a measure expressed in CO2
equivalent to represent the impacts of a product,
a process on climate change
1) It is not a comprehensive assessment but focused only on climate change
2) Results of an LCA related to climate change category and of a Carbon Footprint
are the same but are reported differently
Environmental Impacts Assessment of Renewable
Energy sources: litterature review
To support the understanding of renewable Energy sources impacts, several scientific papers
have been published in the past years:
• Over 20 scientifc papers were considered in this study
• In general they are focused on the assessment of only two Environmental Indicators:
1. Climate Change (IPCC 2007)
1. Are there other relevant impact categories to be considered?
2. Is it enough to look at just one indicator when setting energy intervention plans and
policies?
11
4
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
gC
O2
/kW
h
Biomass Wind Photovoltaic
Impacts on Climate Change of different RES technologies
(Average Values)
1. Energy Use/Energy Pay Back Time (CED)
9
4
6,5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
N. o
f Y
ea
rs
Biomass Wind Photovoltaic
Energy payback Time of different RES technologies
(Average Values)
Single issue assessment versus full life cycle
assessment •Life Cycle Assessment, thanks to its holistic approach, is the tool to assess
environmental impacts of product, processes and services in several impact
categories
•IPCC 2007 and Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) focus only on one specific
environmental issue
LCA IPCC 2007 CUMULATIVE ENERGY DEMAND
Carcinogens X
Respiratory Organics X
Respiratory Inorganics X
Climate Change X X
radiation X
Ozone Layer X
Ecotoxicity X
Acidification/Eutrophication X
Lan Use X
Minerals/Fossil Fuels X X
Goal of the Study: conduct a Life Cycle Assessment study, according to ISO
14040-14044, on 1 kWp Monocrystalline PV panel in order to:
1. verify which impacts are most relevant;
2. identify which processes should be improved in order to reduce
environmental impacts
The product system consists of the processes necessary to produce a solar
panel.
The function is the production of a PV panel.
The functional unit is the kilo Watt peak (kWp)
Data: primary data from a company in the North East of Italy; secondary data from
Ecoinvent data Base; data refers to the production of 2010
LCIA: Three different methods were used:
Eco-indicator 99
IPCC 2007
Cumulative Energy Demand
Case Study: Goal and Scope
Main carachteristics of the PV module Unit
Technology Monocrystalline silicon
N° of Modules 5,56 p
Nominal power 180 W
Module surface 1,292 m2
Module weight 15 kg
N° of cells per module 72 p
Total number of cell 400 p
Cell dimension 0,125 x 0,125 m2
Cell thickness 250 μm
Case Study: Goal and Scope, characteristics of the
PV Panel
5
89%
Other
industries
elettronic
11%
PV
production
PMG-Si
Production
EG-Si poly
production
–
Siemens
Process
Silicon Ingot
formation
–
Czochralsky
Process
Waste
Washing
Second
Crystallization
–
Czochralsky
process
Ingott
Squaring
Ingott
cutting
into wafer
Cell
production
Assembling
and testing
The following processes were
excluded because of lack of
information:
1. Balance of System
2. Transport to Installation Site
3. Installation processes
4. Maintanance and operations
5. End of Life
CRADLE TO GATE APPROACH WAS
ADOPTED
Case Study: Goal and Scope, processes
considered
Results and interpretation: IPCC 2007
0
010
020
030
040
050
060
070
080
090
0100
IPCC GWP 100a
1 kWpk 'Pannello FV'; IPCC 2007 GWP 100a V1.02
%
9_Assembling andTesting
8_Cell Production
7_Ingott Cutting
6_Ingott Squaring
5_SecondCrystallization
4_Waste Washing
3_Silicon IngotFormation
2_ EG-Si PolyProduction
1_MG-Si Production
Results and interpretation:
Cumulative Energy Demand
0,00
10,00
20,00
30,00
40,00
50,00
60,00
70,00
80,00
90,00
100,00
Non renewable,
fossil
Non-renewable,
nuclear
Non-renewable,
biomass
Renewable,
biomass
Renewable,
wind, solar,
geothe
Renewable,
water
1 kWpk 'Pannello FV'; Metodo: Cumulative Energy Demand V1.06
%
9_Assembling andTesting
8_Cell Production
7_Ingott Cutting
6_Ingott Squaring
5_SecondCrystallization
4_Waste Washing
3_Silicon IngotFormation
2_ EG-Si PolyProduction
1_MG-Si Production
Results and interpretation: Ecoindicator 99
Characterization
0
010
020
030
040
050
060
070
080
090
0100
Carcinogens
Resp. organics
Resp. inorganics
Climate change
Radiation
Ozone layer
Ecotoxicity
Acidificatio
n/ Eutrophicatio
n
Land use
Minerals
1 kWpk 'Pannello FV'; Eco-indicator 99 (I) V2.05 / Europe EI 99 I/A
%
9_Assembling andTesting
8_Cell Production
7_Ingott Cutting
6_Ingott Squaring
5_Second Crystallization
4_Waste Washing
3_Silicon Ingot Formation
2_ EG-Si Poly Production
1_MG-Si Production
Results and interpretation: Ecoindicator
99
Weighting
0
05
010
015
020
025
030
035
040
045
050
Carcinogens
Resp. organics
Resp. inorganics
Climate change
Radiation
Ozone layer
Ecotoxicity
Acidificatio
n/ Eutrophicatio
n
Land use
Minerals
1 kWpk 'Pannello FV'; Eco-indicator 99 (I) V2.05 / Europe EI 99 I/A
Pt
9_Assembling andTesting
8_Cell Production
7_Ingott Cutting
6_Ingott Squaring
5_SecondCrystallization
4_Waste Washing
3_Silicon IngotFormation
2_ EG-Si PolyProduction
1_MG-Si Production
Through LCIA using Eco-Indicator emerged that also Respiratory Inorganics is a
significant Impact category
When using IPCC 2007 and CED we can measure environmental impacts in a
specific category, but we miss the relation with other categories
The three methods partially identify the same processes as significant and
suggest to intervene to reduce environmental impacts with a different
priority
Discussions
IPCC 2007 Cumulative Energy Demand Eco-Indicator
Second Crystallization EG-Si Poly Production Assembling and Testing
Ingott Cutting Second Crystallization Ingott Cutting
EG-Si Poly Production Ingott Cutting Second Crystallization
Silcion Ingott Formation Assembling and Testing EG-Si Poly Production
Conclusions
In order to assess Environmental impacts of RES, CED and IPCC methods are
generally used.
• Are there other relevant impact categories to be considered?
• Is it enough to look at just one indicator when setting energy intervention plans
and policies?
In this Study LCA methodology (Eco-indicator) was used to assess the
different environmental impacts of 1kWp PV panel.
1. There are other significant categories to be considered when studying
RES technologies such as RESPIRATORY INORAGNICS
1. Only using an holistyc approach, like the LCA one, is possible to have a
clear view of environmental impacts and set intervention strategies that
really come to a reduction of environmental impacts
2. Other recently published papers support these results (e.g. Ruben Laleman,
Johan Albrecht, Jo Dewulf. Life Cycle Analysis to estimate the environmental impact of residential
photovoltaic systems in regions with low solar irradiation. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews; 2010)
Product Water Footprint
Water footprint: Metric(s) that quantify(ies) the
potential environmental impacts related to
water (ISO 14046). Products, Processes,
Organization.
1) It is not a comprehensive assessment but focused only on water
Product Water Footprint
…integrated by Hoekstra in 2002…
Comprehensive indicator of freshwater resources
appropriation. Products, Nation, Population (Hoekstra et al.,
2011)
Evolved with the support of the Life Cycle Assessment
community.
Metric(s) that quantify(ies) the potential environmental
impacts related to water (ISO 14046). Products, Processes,
Organization.
The concept of Virtual Water was firstly introduced by
Allan in the 90’s…
Water needed for the production of a product…global trade of
embedded water into products.
Scarsity – quantity
Availability – quantity and quality
Aquatic ecotoxicity – Emissions of chemicals to
water
Aquatic acidification – emissions of SOx Nox
Aquatic eutrophication – emissions of P/N to
water
What can we measure?
Goal of the study
GOAL OF THE STUDY.
Compare Water Accounting for organic and non-organic
cultivation in a specific location; (WFN)
Quantification of the Water Footprint for a jar of 330 grams of
Organic strawberry Jam (LCA Approach_WSI)
Manzardo A.*, Mazzi A., Niero M., Toniolo S., Scipioni A. : “Water footprint accounting of organic and non-organic
strawberries including ancillary materials: a case study”. Proceeding LCA FOOD 2012.
1) Boundaries of analysis
WATER ACCOUNTING (organic and non-organic)
Blue, green and grey water of processes
are assessed (Hoekstra et al., 2011)
CROPWAT model is employed
(http://www.fao.org/nr/water/infores_datab
ases_cropwat.html) to determine Blue and
Green Water.
The results are expressed as l/kg of
strawberries
Water Accounting
1) Water Inventory
Organic Non Organic
Yield of cultivation [20 t/ha]
Natural fertilizers used and leaching
rate
Data refer to a 15 months period between 2009 and 2010
Yield of cultivation [26 t/ha]
Chemical fertilizers used and leaching
rate
The two fields are located in the same location and data
collected using the same tools
Climate data (climate station located in the field)
Primary data of irrigation water volume
Micro-irrigation is used on both cases
1) Water Accounting
The organic farming method in this case study resulted to be more
water intensive than the non-organic one. This result strongly depends on
the yield of the two farming methods in the specific production site.
NON ORGANIC
FARMING
ORGANIC
FARMING
Green Water [l/kg] 90.7 117.9
Blue Water [l/kg] 98.1 127.5
Grey Water [l/kg] 40.0 2.5
Total [l/kg] 228.8 247.9
These are site-specific data!! The results can vary
signicantly in other location and using other
cultivation methods. Uncertainty need to be
addressed!
2) Boundaries of the analysis
PRODUCT WATER FOOTPRINT
(organic)
A life cycle approach is adopted
Water Stress Index (WSI) is
employed (Pfister et al., 2009)
•Functional Unit: 330g of organic
strawberry jam sold in Italy
The results are expressed as
l/Functional Unit (FU)
SYSTEM
BOUNDARIES
2) Water Inventory
Yield of cultivation [20 t/ha]
Natural fertilizers used
Transport of material (from suppliers and from Site 1 to Site 2)
Ancillary materials involved in the process
Water Stress
Index (WSI)
Data refer to a 15 months period between 2009 and 2010
Impacts related to water limited to
stress
Metodo: Pfister et al, 2009
2) Inventory assesment
The farming processes resulted to be responsible for
the majority of the product water footprint. Other processes
account for over the 10% of the product overall water footprint
Accounting: 237,7 l/FU Footprinting: 88,4 l/FU
Metodo: Pfister et al, 2009
Conclusions
I. In the specific case study the Organic strawberry farming resulted in higher
water use than non-organic strawberry farming per kg of strawberry. The
main reason is the different yields of the two farming methods.
I. The Product Water Footprint of the 330g organic strawberry jam is 88.4 l.
II. Overheads water footprint contribution resulted to be over 10%.
III. Ancillary materials and processes should be considered when looking at
strategies to reduce a product water footprint.
IV. Other studies in other location will be performed to test the validity of the
results;
V. Assessemnet methodology need to be improved to be comprehensive
Water Accounting
Product Water Footprint
Future challanges