Tackling the relevance of packaging in life cycle assessment of virgin olive oil and the environmental consequences of regulation

Production and consumption of olive oil is very important in Europe, being this product a basic element in the Mediterranean diet since long ago. The project objective is two-fold: a study of the contribution of virgin olive oils (VOOs) usual packaging to the whole life cycle of the product and a study of the environmental consequences of the Spanish Government regulation on VOO packaging. A life cycle assessment (LCA) according to ISO 14044 has been performed using the CML methodology for the impact assessment. The results show that the packaging influence varies from 2 to 300%, depending on the impact category and type of packaging (glass, tin or polyethylene terephtalate). Glass, which is related to higher quality perception by consumers, was found to be the most influencing material (due to its weight); however, this impact may be fairly reduced by applying ecodesign strategies (such as weight reduction and recycled-glass percentage increase). A new Spanish regulation on the mandatory use of non-refillable oilers in HORECA establishments (hotels, restaurants and caterings) aims to provide more quality assurance and better information to consumers; however, it was also found to mean a 74% increase in greenhouse gases emissions. This regulation was deeply discussed at European level and its application was withdraw due to consumers rejection, except for Spain. The findings of the present case study show that LCA and ecodesign should be important tools to be promoted and applied in policy making to reduce non-desirable consequences of regulation

Life cycle assessment of PE and PP multi film compared with PLA and PLA reinforced with nanoclays film

Plastic has become essential for our economy and the packaging industry. However, plastic use is linked to environmental problems such as waste generation and loss of resources, since only 42% of the plastic used for packaging purposes is recycled. Another problem associated with the use of plastic materials is caused by their abandonment in the environment since they are non-degradable polymers. This paper analyses the environmental performance of using biodegradable poly-lactic acid bags, pure (PLA) and reinforced with nanoclays (PLA + NC), in comparison to conventional alternatives made of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) for being used to pack fresh bakery products. The results reveal that for Climate Change and Fossil Resources use, PLA + NC performs better than the alternatives. In the case of Climate Change, it has 45% less impact than low density polyethylene (LDPE), 39% less than PP, and 2% less than PLA. However, the use of PLA + NC, results in higher impacts on Land Use and Water Use, because this is produced from crops. Compared with PLA, PLA + NC has 5% less impact on these impact categories, but between 99 and 100% more impact on Land Use and between 79 and 81% more impact on Water use than PP and LDPE. Thus, poly-lactic acid bags reinforced with nanoclays are shown as an alternative for fossil-based polymers (PE and PP) for certainty type of applications when we focus on Climate Change and Fossil resources use reduction. In this sense, the results also reveal that the most environmentally friendly end-of-life for PLA and PLA + NC is incineration instead of composting.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Towards sustainable dietary patterns under a water-energy-food nexus life cycle thinking approach

The big challenge of the next decades is meeting the global nutritional demand, while reducing the pressure on food resources and the GHG emissions. In this regard, the overall goal consists of redesigning the food systems and promoting sustainable dietary patterns is a crucial aspect. This article focuses on reviewing the state-of-the-art of the combined Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus approach in assessing the effects of diet transitions. Diet LCAs differ in methodology, design, and assessed environmental impacts. The WEF nexus, which aims at finding synergies and trade-offs between the water, energy, and food resources systems, has been applied to different contexts and levels. However, a limited number of nexus methods have been developed at the food and diet levels, and no commonly recognizable methodology for the nexus assessment has been achieved. An integrated LCA and WEF Nexus approach can be a decisive tool to improve the understanding of the interconnections in the nexus, as it enables the consideration of entire supply chains.This study is part of the Ceres-Procon Project: Food production and consumption strategies for climate change mitigation (CTM2016-76176-C2-2-R) (AEI/FEDER, UE), financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, which aims to determine strategies to improve the sustainability of current food production and consumption

Using Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment for industrial waste management policy making

Postprint (published version

Nanoclay effect into the biodegradation and processability of poly(lactic acid) nanocomposites for food packaging

One of the most promising expectations in the design of new materials for food packaging is focused on the development of biodegradable systems with improved barrier character. In this sense PLA reinforced with nanoclay is a potential alternative to the use of conventional oil-derivative polymers due to the synergetic effect of the biodegradable character of PLA and the barrier-induced effect derived from the dispersion of nanoparticles. In this work, composite materials based on PLA and reinforced with bentonite nanoparticles (up to 4% w/w) (NC) have been prepared to produce films with improved barrier character against water vapor transportation. Additionally, the biodegradable character of the composites depending on the crystallinity of the polymer and percentage of NC have been evaluated in the presence of an enzymatic active medium (proteinase K). Finally, a study of the capacity to film production of the composites has been performed to determine the viability of the proposals. The dispersion of the nanoparticles induced a tortuous pathway of water vapor crossing, reducing this diffusion by more than 22%. Moreover, the nanoclays materials were in all the cases acceptable for food packing in terms of migration. A migration lower than 1 mg/m2 was obtained in all the materials. Nonetheless, the presence of the nanoclays in decreased biodegradable capacity was observed. The time was enlarged to more than 15 days for the maximum content (4% w/w). On the other hand, the incorporation of NC does not avoid the processability of the material to obtain film-shaped processed materials.Postprint (published version

Best available techniques in municipal solid waste incineration: state of the art in Spain and Portugal

In the year 2010 more than 24 Mt and 5 Mt of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) were generated in Spain and Portugal. Landfilling, incineration and recycling are the most common treatments. In 2010, in the Iberian Peninsula between 58-6 2 % of the MSW generated was sent to the landfill, 9-19 % was incinerated and the rest was recycled and composting (EUROSTAT, 2010). Despite landfilling is still the most common practice, waste treatment by means of an incineration process has increased. The main advantages of this type of waste treatment are the reduction of mass and volume of residues and the energy recovery. Nevertheless, incineration had gained a bad reputation owing to the environmental impact, in particular, due to the emissions of acid gases, dioxins and furans (PCDD/F) and greenhouse gases. To assess the environmental advantages and disadvantages as well as the potential environmental impacts of waste incineration a life cycle perspective is required. Within this framework is the development of FENIX-Giving Packaging a New Life, a 3-year European LIFE+ funded project. This work is just the first step within this project where a database and a model based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental impacts of waste incineration in Spain and Portugal will be developed. Particularly, the aim of this paper is to review the different technologies applied to MSW solid waste incineration and to carry out both the diagnosis of the current situation at the incineration plants in Spain and Portugal and to collect data to develop the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)

Carbon Footprint: the case of four chicken meat products sold on the Spanish market

Despite its relatively low environmental impact within the livestock sector, the poultry sector still faces its own environmental challenges that need to be addressed. The present paper uses life cycle assessment to quantify greenhouse gas emissions, from cradle to slaughterhouse gate, of four chicken meat products: whole carcass, wings, breast fillets, and leg quarters. The main contribution of the present study is that it provides a detailed analysis of different chicken meat cuts, testing mass and economic allocation choices and showing that economic allocation better reflects the causality of the cutting process. We recommend that a distinction should be made between whole carcass and meat cuts, as there are significant differences in meat content and climate change results between these two categories. This is not so clear in the literature, nor in the LEAP guideline for the poultry sector. The study was performed by using disaggregated inventory data from Spain, for the first time. Results show that the major contributors to environmental impact are feed production (>70%), electricity use (10.2%), and fossil fuel combustion (8.1%). Packaging did not significantly contribute to the climate change impact of the chicken products evaluated (0.4-3.4% contribution, depending on the type of packaging and product considered).The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to the project KAIROS-BIOCIR (PID2019-104925RB-C32). The first author also appreciates the support (2021FI_B 00100) from the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Business and Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia and the European Social Fund. Finally, the authors are grateful to Grupo SADA p.a., S.A for their support in this stud

Comparative assessment of two circularity indicators for the case of reusable versus single-use secondary packages for fresh foods in Spain

Sustainable packaging is a crucial focus in the context of circular economy efforts. This study evaluates the circularity of two secondary packaging systems used in Spanish fresh food produces: Reusable Plastic Crates and Single-use Cardboard Boxes. A Mass Flow Analysis was performed to assess the material flows in the production and use phases of both systems and two circular indicators were applied: the Material Circularity Indicator and Product Circular Indicator. While most previous studies for single-use packaging use these indicators at the product level, this study applies a system approach since the Reusable Plastic Crates can be reused 100 times. The functional unit was defined as the distribution of 1000 tonnes of fresh products, resulting in the distribution of 6,666,700 packages with 15 kg of products. The Material Circularity Indicator and Product Circular Indicator results show that Reusable Plastic Crates are more circular than Singleuse Cardboard Boxes. The Product Circular Indicator provides a more comprehensive assessment of circularity by considering multiple life cycle stages, efficiency, and unrecoverable waste, resulting in a difference in circularity evaluations. The indicators used have limitations as they do not consider the resource stock. Further research is needed to explore this aspect.This study is developed in the frame the KAIROS-BIOCIR Project, Grant number KAIROS-BIOCIR Project PID2019-104925RB-C33 (AEO/FEDER, UE), financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness. The authors would like to thank ARECO for the support provided during the preparation of the research

Extraction of bioactive compounds from spent coffee grounds using ethanol and acetone aqueous solutions

Given global coffee consumption, substantial quantities of spent coffee grounds (SCGs) are generated annually as a by-product of brewing coffee. SCG, although rich in bioactive compounds, is nowadays disposed of. The objective of this study is to compare, for the first time and from the same SCG, the efficiency of ethanol?water mixtures and acetone?water mixtures for the recovery of total polyphenols, chlorogenic acid, and caffeine. Acetone at 20% (m/m) was the most convenient solvent to extract all three bioactive compounds simultaneously, yielding 4.37 mg of GAE/g SCG for total polyphenols, chlorogenic acid (0.832 mg 5-CQA/g SCG), and caffeine (1.47 mg/g SCG). Additionally, this study aims to address some challenges associated with the industrial-scale utilization of SCG as a raw material, encompassing factors such as pre-treatment conditions (natural drying and oven drying), storage duration, and the kinetics of the extraction process. No significant difference was observed between the natural drying and oven drying of SCG. In terms of storage duration, it is advisable to process the SCG within less than 3?4 months of storage time. A significant decline of 82% and 70% in chlorogenic acid (5-CQA) and caffeine contents, respectively, was observed after eight months of storage. Furthermore, the kinetic study for the recovery of total polyphenols revealed that the optimal extraction times were 10 min for acetone at 20% and 40 min for water, with a yield increase of 28% and 34%, respectively. What is remarkable from the present study is the approach considered, using the simplest operating conditions (minimal time and solvent-to-solid ratio, and ambient temperature); hence, at an industrial scale, energy and resource consumption and equipment dimensions can be together reduced, leading to a more industrially sustainable extraction process.The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to the project KAIROS-BIOCIR (PID2019-104925RB-C32). The first author also appreciates the support (2021FI SDUR 00130) from the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Business and Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia and the European Social Fund

The Spanish Dietary Guidelines: A potential tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of current dietary patterns

This study assesses the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and the nutritional quality of the current food consumption and losses of an average Spanish citizen, and compares them with two alternative diets: one following the Spanish dietary guidelines (The NAOS Strategy; NAOS), and another one based on the Mediterranean (MED) diet. The diet-related GHG emissions of current eating patterns would be reduced by 17% and 11%, when shifting to the NAOS and MED diets, respectively, and even more (42% and 35%) when diets' nutritional qualities are considered within the functional unit. In addition, food losses contribute 21% to diet's emissions. Our results suggest that national dietary guidelines (NDGs) can be a good policy tool, not only to lead to a healthier condition, but also to promote a shift towards a lower-carbon diets. Finally, it is recommended that life cycle-based indicators are added within the NDGs, to better communicate the environmental impacts of dietary choices, and ultimately enhance knowledge and awareness of consumers.This research study is carried out as part of the Ceres-Procon Project: Food production and consumption strategies for climate change mitigation (CTM2016-76176-C2-1-R) (AEI/FEDER, UE), financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, which aims to determine strategies to improve the sustainability of current food production and consumption