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Food loss is a major concern from both environmental and social point of view. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been largely applied to quantify the environmental impact of food and to identify pros and cons of different options for optimisation of food systems management, including the recovery of potential waste occurring along the supply chain. However, within LCA case studies, there is still a general lack of proper accounting of food losses. A discrepancy both in food loss definition and in the approaches adopted to model the environmental burden of food loss has been observed. These aspects can lead to misleading and, sometimes, contrasting results, limiting the reliability of LCA as a decision support tool for assessing food production systems. This article aims, firstly, at providing a preliminary analysis on how the modelling of food loss has been conducted so far in LCA studies. Secondly, it suggests a definition for food loss to be adopted. Finally, the article investigates the consequence of using such definition and it proposes potential paths for the development of a common methodological framework to increase the robustness and comparability of the LCA studies. It discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches adopted to account for food loss along the food supply chain: primary production, transport and storage, food processing, distribution, consumption and end of life. It is also proposed to account separately between avoidable, possibly avoidable and unavoidable food loss by means of specific indicators. Finally, some recommendations for LCA practitioners are provided on how to deal with food loss in LCA studies focused on food products. The most relevant recommendations concern: i) the systematic accounting of food loss generated along the food supply chain; ii) the modelling of waste treatments according to the specific characteristics of food; iii) the sensitivity analysis on the modelling approaches adopted to model multi-functionality; and iv) the need of transparency in describing the modelling of food loss generation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition toward resource efficient production and consumption patterns is currently one of the main challenges in engineering, environmental science and especially in governmental policies. This transition has led to a proliferation of meanings related to the resource efficiency concept, resulting in a wide variety of indicators. In this paper, we propose a systematized framework in which resource efficiency indicators can be structured and comprehensively positioned. The aim is to provide a proper understanding of the scope and limitations of particular existing resource efficiency indicators in order to assist policy makers and the scientific community in the application and further development of indicators. This framework covers all different resource use-related aspects evaluated in existing approaches, including simple accounting of resource extraction and use; environmental impact assessment due to resource extraction and use; accounting and environmental impact assessment of specific processes and of full supply chains; analyses at micro-scale and macro-scale; and analysis of both natural resources versus waste-as-resources. To illustrate the potential application of the framework, a set of currently used indicators was selected, whereupon these indicators were structured and evaluated within the framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces the “Resource Efficiency Assessment of Products” (REAPro) method to assess and improve the resource efficiency of Energy Using Products, with a special focus to their end-of-life. The method allows to identify product's hot spots relevant for the following criteria: reusability/recyclability/recoverability (in mass and in terms of environmental impacts); recycled content (in mass and in terms of environmental impacts); use of hazardous substances. The method is structured into five steps: characterization of the product; assessment against the selected criteria; identification of product's hot spots; identification of improvement measures (at the product level); assessment of policy measures for resource efficiency (at the ‘product group’ level). The method includes the calculation of a comprehensive set of lifecycle based indices, including some original indices, as the “Reusability/Recyclability/Recoverability benefits rates” and the “Recycled content benefit rate”. The method is applied to a case-study Liquid Cristal Display (LCD) television. Some exemplary measures to improve resource efficiency of television are discussed as: the improvement of products recyclability through the setting of thresholds of the time for dismantling; the setting of a minimum recycled content of large plastic parts; the declaration of the content of indium in the displays. Potential environmental benefits associated to these measures have been estimated. The method also proved to be relevant to current European Union (EU) policies and some of the presented results are being used as input for some on-going policy processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to evaluate the energy consumption and environmental burdens associated with the production of protected crops in an agricultural district in the Mediterranean region. In this study, LCA was used as a ‘support tool’, to address local policies for sustainable production and consumption patterns, and to create a ‘knowledge base’ for environmental assessment of an extended agricultural production area. The proposed approach combines organisation-specific tools, such as Environmental Management Systems and Environmental Product Declarations, with the environmental management of the district. Questionnaires were distributed to producers to determine the life cycle of different protected crops (tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peppers, melons and zucchinis), and obtain information on greenhouse usage (e.g. tunnel vs. pavilion). Ecoprofiles of products in the district were also estimated, to identify supply chain elements with the highest impact in terms of global energy requirements, greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication, water consumption and waste production. These results of this study enable selection of the ‘best practices’ and ecodesign solutions, to reduce the environmental impact of these products. Finally, sensitivity analysis of key LCA issues was performed, to assess the variability associated with different parameters: vegetable production; water usage; fertiliser and pesticide usage; shared greenhouse use; substitution of plastics coverings; and waste recycling. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper presents a life cycle assessment of a kenaf-fibre insulation board following the international standards of the ISO 14040 series. Each life-cycle step has been checked, from kenaf production and board manufacture by an Italian firm, to use and disposal. The aim is to assess the board eco-profile and to compare, on the basis of a life-cycle approach, the energy and environmental benefits and drawbacks related to its employment into a typical residential dwelling. A comparison among various insulating materials has been carried out. The study focuses also on processes and input materials which cause the main environmental impacts of the product, and points out critical issues and the life-cycle steps with the highest improvement potentials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

It is generally well known that the reliability of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) studies depends upon exact, complete and sharp input data that, unfortunately, are not always available. Furthermore, when available, the input data are affected by uncertainty whose importance is not always adequately taken into consideration.This paper describes the software F.A.L.C.A.D.E. (Fuzzy Approach to Life Cycle Analysis and Decision Environment): a tool designed for the calculation of the eco-profile of products, based on a fuzzy logic approach. The originality of the method already treated in other papers is to use the fuzzy representation to manage the complex relationships that arise in compiling an eco-balance. In particular, the model allows to give further attributes to the numerical data of the inventory based to the expert knowledge. The uncertainty of data is clearly defined by means of four fuzzy linguistic variables: the age of the data, the kind of technology to which data are referred to, the statistical and geographic representativeness of the data.The main model’s strength is transparency. Many LCA tools appear, unfortunately, as “black boxes” leaving the actual influence of the algorithms upon the final results unclear. On the other hand, with F.A.L.C.A.D.E. the user is able to observe and control all the calculation steps from the input of data to the final results. For instance, F.A.L.C.A.D.E. uses a linear sub-model that, starting from the inventory matrixes, allows to calculate an eco-profile together with a conditioning number “CN”, which describes how sensitive is the linear model to errors when solving the system of equations. Finally, the software present a set of tables summarising the results obtained with the fuzzy model. These results can be compared with those obtained with other methods. The software represents therefore a tool to evaluate the quality of Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) study.F.A.L.C.A.D.E. has been developed using an object-oriented programming. The result is a flexible tool whose structure can be easily changed by the user (variables, linguistic rules, domains of the fuzzy groups, etc.). As case study, the software has been applied to the LCA of a plaster material commonly used in building construction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Dissipation is a concept increasingly considered in LCA/MFA/SFA/IO Analysis. • We review the way resource dissipation is addressed in 45 life cycle-based studies. • Major differences arise in the approaches to account for this concept. • We provide a comprehensive definition of abiotic resource dissipation. • We discuss its potential implementation in LCA, as of today and in the future. The concept of resources or materials dissipation after their use in the technosphere has been increasingly considered in life-cycle based studies, applying Substance and Material Flow Analysis (SFA and MFA), Input-Output Analysis, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, there is currently no common understanding of what a dissipative flow is. This article first reviews 45 publications to describe the status of resource dissipation in life-cycle based studies, discussing how resource dissipation is usually defined, which temporal perspective is considered, which compartments of dissipation are distinguished, and which approaches (including the implementation of parameters) are considered to assess resource dissipation in a system. Moreover, this article proposes a comprehensive definition of resource dissipation, building from the literature review and focusing on abiotic resources. It then discusses this definition with respect to its potential implementation in LCA considering today's existing Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) datasets and best practices. Overall it shows that the LCA framework may be well suited to assess abiotic resource dissipation. In particular i) the compartments of dissipation usually considered in the literature are covered in LCA, and ii) LCI databases could be a source of information to be further used to quantify a set of flows defined as "dissipative", as commonly considered in SFA/MFA studies. However, major challenges are still faced before any potential routine implementation in LCA. The article accordingly discusses the potential way forward in the short-term (development and test of possible approaches), mid-term (towards satisfactory robustness, and consensus) and long-term (large-scale changes of LCI databases). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]