LCA of an Italian lager beer |
| |
Authors: | Mauro Cordella Alessandro Tugnoli Gigliola Spadoni Francesco Santarelli Tullio Zangrando |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Chemical, Mining and Environmental Engineering (DICMA), University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy;(2) Hausbrandt 1892 S.p.A. Birra Theresianer, 31040 Nervesa della Battaglia (TV), Italy |
| |
Abstract: | Background, Aim and Scope The increasing concern about environment protection and a broader awareness of the sustainable development issues cause more
and more attention to be given to the environmental impacts of products through the different phases of their life cycle.
Foods are definitely among the products whose overall environmental performance can be effectively investigated resorting
to LCA. A LCA case study was performed in order to detect and quantify the environmental impacts deriving from the life cycle
of a lager beer produced by an Italian small brewery, investigating and comparing two packaging options: beer in 20 L returnable
stainless steel kegs and beer in 33 cL one way glass bottles.
Materials and Methods The investigated system included: production and acquisition of materials and energy, brewing process, packaging, transports,
beer consumption and waste disposal. Data for the study were mostly collected from the Theresianer Brewery and completed on
the basis of literature information. Data uncertainty was treated with a Monte Carlo analysis. Life Cycle Inventories were
constructed for 1 L of beer in bottle and 1 L of beer in keg using the LCA software SimaPro and then assessed at the endpoint
level according to the Eco-Indicator’99 method.
Results Inorganic emissions, land use and fossil fuel consumptions resulted to be the most critical environmental issues of both beer
life cycles. Beer in keg turned out to cause a lower environmental load along its life cycle than bottled beer; this was mainly
due to the higher emissions and the higher energy consumptions allocated to the glass bottles. Moreover, beer consumption
phase, glass bottle production and barley cultivation were found to be the critical stages of the beer life cycle.
Discussion The brewing process did not result as a critical stage and therefore the company dimension may not be a crucial element for
the overall impact quantification. On the contrary, beer consumption may have a significant impact mainly due to the consumer
displacement.
Conclusions The analysis pointed out the relevance of the beer consumption phase and of the packaging choice within the beer life cycle
and allowed to detect the other critical stages of the life cycle. It is worth to notice that producers and consumers can
be active and responsible actors in pursuing the collective goal of the environmental sustainability.
Recommendations and Perspectives In order to improve the environmental performance of the beer life cycle, producers should set up marketing strategies in
favour of reusable packaging and consumers should prefer draught beer and reduce car use. As beer consumption phase, bottle
production and recycling and barley cultivation were found to be very significant stages of the life cycle of the beer, deepening
the analysis of these aspects in similar studies is suggested.
ESS-Submission Editor: Dr. Rolf Frischknecht (frischknecht@ecoinvent.org) |
| |
Keywords: | Beer bottle brewery Eco-Indicator’ 99 environmental performance food consumption Italy keg packaging product LCA |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|