Pietro Alexander Renzulli

Life Cycle Assessment in the Cereal and Derived Products Sector

This chapter discusses the application of life cycle assessment methodologies to rice, wheat, corn and some of their derived products. Cereal product systems are vital for the production of commodities of worldwide importance that entail particular environmental hot spots originating from their widespread use and from their particular nature. It is thus important for tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) to be tailored to such cereal systems in order to be used as a means of identifying the negative environmental effects of cereal products and highlighting possible pathways to overall environmental improvement in such systems. Following a brief introduction to the cereal sector and supply chain, this chapter reviews some of the current cereal-based life cycle thinking literature, with a particular emphasis on LCA. Next, an analysis of the LCA methodological issues emerging from the literature review is carried out. The following section of the chapter discusses some practices and approaches that should be considered when performing cereal-based LCAs in order to achieve the best possible results. Conclusions are drawn in the final part of the chapter and some indications are given of the main hot spots in the cereal supply chain.

Life Cycle Assessment in the agri-food sector: an overview of its key aspects, international initiatives, certification, labelling schemesand methodological issues

Sustainable development and, above all, sustainable production and consumption in the agri-food sector have been key issues since the 2000s, stimulating the creation of many international initiatives and strategies aimed at reducing environmental impacts deriving from food production and consumption and at finding more sustainable ways of production. This first chapter is designed to provide the reader with an as exhaustive as possible overview of the key concerns, applications, and methodological issues of agri-food life cycle assessment (LCA). On this scale the major international initiatives (with a special focus on two relevant and recent European ones), eco-labels and declarations, and footprints (at product level, based on an LCA approach) developed so far are reported. Some of the most important LCA initiatives developed by agricultural and livestock operators, the industry sector, logistics sector, trade, and the end of life of packaging and/or food waste operators are also described in the chapter. Considering that one of the key issues within the agri-food sector is the lack of reliable and up-to-date inventory data on food products and processes, the state of the art of the major existing international LCI databases is reported, and the national and international initiatives currently under development highlighted. Finally, the chapter takes into account dietary issues in the sense that in the context of food sustainability the importance of consumer behaviour and, in particular, dietary behaviour is becoming increasingly recognised, together with the product and its production chain.

Potential Developments of Industrial Symbiosis in the Taranto Productive District

Industrial Symbiosis represents one of the approaches of the Industrial Ecology paradigm implemented as a means of making industrial production more sustainable. Currently in Italy there are only a few initiatives entailing Industrial Symbiosis and they have not yet developed fully. This chapter represents a study of the industrial sector of the Taranto province located in south east Italy, whose aim is that of identifying current and some new potential Industrial Symbiosis interactions among the firms of the sector. The economic, environmental, waste and energy analysis of the provincial industrial sector, has depicted the current state of Industrial Symbiosis and has also identified who the key players of a future Industrial Symbiosis scenario in the province could be. The waste reutilization and energy management schemes identified and described in this chapter, regarding the yearly generation of 3.25 Mt of solid waste and by products and over 1,000 ktoe of waste heat, could be used as a starting point for a real implementation of Industrial Symbiosis interactions that will effectively be able to make the Taranto province industrial system more competitive and environmentally sustainable.