1. Proceedings
  2. I3M
  3. 2019
  4. FOODOPS
  5. 10.46354/i3m.2019.foodops.004

Life cycle assessment of organic Parmesan Cheese considering the whole dairy supply chain

  • a Giulia Borghesi  ,
  • b Giuseppe Vignali  
  • aCipack Centre, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 43124 Parma, Italy
  • bDepartment of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 181/A, 43124 Parma, Italy
Cite as
Borghesi G., Vignali G. (2019). Life cycle assessment of organic Parmesan Cheese considering the whole dairy supply chain. Proceedings of the 5th International Food Operations & Processing Simulation Workshop (FOODOPS 2019), pp. 24-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46354/i3m.2019.foodops.004
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Abstract

Agriculture and food manufacturing have a considerable effect on the environment emissions: holdings and farms play an important role about greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption. This study aims at evaluating the environmental impact of one of the most important Italian DOP product: organic Parmesan Cheese. Environmental performances of the whole dairy supply chain have been assessed according to the life cycle assessment approach (LCA). In this analysis Parmesan Cheese is made from an organic dairy farm in Emilia Romagna, which uses the milk from three different organic livestock productions. Organic agriculture is different from conventional; the  major difference is represented by the avoidance of the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides made in  chemical industry process. Organic agriculture uses organic fertilizers to encourage the natural fertility of the  soil respecting the environment and the agro-system. In this case, life cycle approach is used to assess the carbon footprint and the water footprint of organic Parmesan Cheese considering the milk and cheese production. The object at this level is investigating the environmental impact considering the situation before some improvement changes. The functional unit is represented by 1 kg of organic Parmesan Cheese; inventory data refer to the situation in year 2017 and system boundaries consider the inputs related to the cattle and dairy farm until the ripening (included). The carbon footprint is investigated using IPCC 2013 Global Warming Potential (GWP) 100a method, developed by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and reported in kg of CO2eq. Otherwise, water footprint allows to measure the water consumption and in this work it is assessed using AWARE method (Available Water REmaining).

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