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An apicultural system is characterised by multifunctionality, with one of the functions being the pollination service performed by honeybees, which is of fundamental importance for the nutrition of mankind. The discussion on including ecosystem services in the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology has opened; this article proposes an alternative way of considering ecosystem services in the specific case of a multifunctional system. Indeed, in an LCA implementation, this study applies an economic allocation between the main product (honey) and the pollination service performed by domesticated honeybees for the ecosystems. Here, the consideration of the pollination service in two honey (orange-blossom and cherry-blossom) LCA case studies is examined. The multifunctionality was managed by performing an economic allocation between the main product (honey) and the pollination service. The economic value of the main product was calculated by using specific costing approaches for honey, whilst the one of the pollination service by using its market value, where applicable, or on the basis of the dependence of the two species of fruit trees (related to the two types of honey analysed) upon pollination. The calculated values were then used in the main scenario of the study. The results of the case studies showed that the potential environmental impact of honey decreases for all impact categories when the economic allocation is performed. Electricity consumption for the storage of supers in the hives placement phase and the use of packaging materials were found to be the most impacting processes for both honey types, as well as the transport by aircraft for the distribution of the product overseas. Water consumption was the first most affected impact category, followed by human carcinogenic toxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. A sensitivity analysis confirmed the results. Given the identified hotspots, an attempt should be made to reduce the impact of glass (for the jar) and steel (for the lid) by reducing their mass per unit as well as the electricity consumption for the refrigeration of supers. Furthermore, different options for distributing the product abroad should be examined.
Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti; Domenico Raucci; Andrea Raggi. Multifunctional modelling in the life cycle assessment of honey considering pollination. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2021, 26, 643 -655.
AMA StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis, Luigia Petti, Domenico Raucci, Andrea Raggi. Multifunctional modelling in the life cycle assessment of honey considering pollination. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2021; 26 (4):643-655.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti; Domenico Raucci; Andrea Raggi. 2021. "Multifunctional modelling in the life cycle assessment of honey considering pollination." The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 26, no. 4: 643-655.
The definition of a Functional Unit (FU) is essential for building and modelling a product system in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). A FU is a quantified description of the function of a product that serves as the reference basis for all calculations regarding impact assessment. A function may be based on different features of the product under study, such as performance, aesthetics, technical quality, additional services, costs, etc. Whilst the FU definition is typical in LCA, this does not seem to be a common practice in Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), even though a FU definition is required. Unlike LCA, where quantitative data are mainly collected and processed, the assessment of the social and socio-economic impacts in S-LCA is based on a prevalence of qualitative and semi-quantitative data, a fact that renders the assessment to be somehow unfriendly. Moreover, whilst in LCA a product-oriented approach is typical, S-LCA tends to be a business-oriented methodology, where the emphasis of the social assessment lies on the behaviour of the organisations that are involved in the processes under study rather than on the function that is generated by a product. Indeed, several S-LCA case studies were found in the literature in which the FU is not discussed, let alone defined. The objective of this article is to contribute to analysing the criteria used for the definition of a FU in LCA and verifying whether these criteria can be suitable for S-LCA case studies applications. For this reason, a literature review was carried out on LCA in order to identify whether and how this issue has been tackled with so far. In addition, a second literature review was performed in order to verify how the FU has been introduced in the framework of the S-LCA methodology. Finally, an investigation of the analysis results, in terms of the selected FU, is proposed in view of an ever-growing need for a combination of the LCA and S-LCA methodologies into a broader Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA).
Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Manuela D’Eusanio; Andrea Raggi; Luigia Petti. Functional Unit Definition Criteria in Life Cycle Assessment and Social Life Cycle Assessment: A Discussion. Land Degradation in India 2019, 1 -10.
AMA StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis, Manuela D’Eusanio, Andrea Raggi, Luigia Petti. Functional Unit Definition Criteria in Life Cycle Assessment and Social Life Cycle Assessment: A Discussion. Land Degradation in India. 2019; ():1-10.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis; Manuela D’Eusanio; Andrea Raggi; Luigia Petti. 2019. "Functional Unit Definition Criteria in Life Cycle Assessment and Social Life Cycle Assessment: A Discussion." Land Degradation in India , no. : 1-10.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been increasingly used for the improvement of the environmental performance of products and services, including food systems. Amongst them, however, honey appears to have been rarely analysed. Furthermore, the pollination by honeybees can be regarded as one of the functions of an apiculture system and is of utmost importance both for natural ecosystems and agriculture. When implementing an LCA of an apiculture system, the pollination service can and should be considered as one of the functions of a multifunctional system and the issue of how to deal with this multifunctionality in the modelling of that system should be considered carefully. The aim of this paper is to explore the economic value of pollination as a potential basis for managing multifunctionality in LCA modelling as well as its implementation in a case study. Economic allocation was performed between the pollination service and honey production. The results demonstrated that the production phase is the most impactful one for most of the environmental categories (due to the use of glass for the honey jars and electricity consumption during the storage of supers in refrigerator rooms), followed by the distribution phase. Finally, the most affected environmental impact category appeared to be natural land transformation, followed by marine ecotoxicity, freshwater eutrophication and human toxicity.
Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Andrea Raggi; Luigia Petti. Life Cycle Assessment of Honey: Considering the Pollination Service. Administrative Sciences 2019, 9, 27 .
AMA StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis, Andrea Raggi, Luigia Petti. Life Cycle Assessment of Honey: Considering the Pollination Service. Administrative Sciences. 2019; 9 (1):27.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis; Andrea Raggi; Luigia Petti. 2019. "Life Cycle Assessment of Honey: Considering the Pollination Service." Administrative Sciences 9, no. 1: 27.
This paper aims at evaluating the environmental impact of two types of organic fraction of municipal solid waste treatment techniques -- composting and anaerobic digestion with post-composting -- by using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The analysis concerns a facility of municipal solid waste selection and composting, which is located in Italy and where currently there is only a composting line. Two LCA implementations will be presented -- one on the current status and one on the future option – where, according to the plant expansion plan, an anaerobic digestion line is expected to be introduced. This line will allow obtaining electricity and heat as a result of a cogeneration process fuelled by the produced biogas. Following the characterisation results, currently the compost production phase assumes the highest values in 9 out of 18 analysed impact categories, while the landfill phase prevails in the remaining 9. As far as the option to be implemented in the future is concerned, the stage that affects the most (for 8 categories) is sewage treatment, followed by landfill (6 of them) and finally by the compost production (for the remaining 4). The parallel analysis of the two organic waste treatment methods showed that the best one is the anaerobic/composting digestion solution, obtaining lower scores with respect to the sole composting option (apart from the photochemical formation of oxidants impact category).
Eliana Mancini; Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Andrea Raggi. Evaluation of potential environmental impacts related to two organic waste treatment options in Italy. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 214, 927 -938.
AMA StyleEliana Mancini, Ioannis Arzoumanidis, Andrea Raggi. Evaluation of potential environmental impacts related to two organic waste treatment options in Italy. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 214 ():927-938.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEliana Mancini; Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Andrea Raggi. 2019. "Evaluation of potential environmental impacts related to two organic waste treatment options in Italy." Journal of Cleaner Production 214, no. : 927-938.
In the recent years the theme of sustainability has become so important that it has involved all economic sectors, including that of clothing, in which the phase concerning the dyeing of the garments deserves particular attention due to the substances used that are often harmful both in environmental and in social terms. This study analyses, by using the Social Life Cycle Assessment methodology, the life cycle of a made-in-Italy cashmere sweater, which is subject to natural dyeing. The aim of the study is to highlight the positive impacts (handprints) that arise along all the production phases (product design, yarn making, weaving, dyeing and finishing, sewing, labelling and packaging). For all the four stakeholder categories under analysis (Workers, Consumers, Value chain Actors, Society), several questionnaires were submitted that investigated the issues related to the category (e.g., for Workers: working hours, fair salary, etc.). Furthermore, the Subcategory Assessment Method was used to provide a quantitative character to the obtained results by illustrating the social behaviour of all the organisations that are involved in the life cycle. The emerged positive impacts include: a greater protection of consumers health and safety thanks to the reduction of chemical substances and to a particular labelling system that guarantees that sweaters are naturally dyed; greater responsibility of the local community towards sustainability issues; the setting up of new green production technologies.
Maria Ferrante; Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti. Socio-Economic Effects in the Knitwear Sector—A Life Cycle-Based Approach Towards the Definition of Social Indicators. The Social Footprints of Global Trade 2018, 59 -97.
AMA StyleMaria Ferrante, Ioannis Arzoumanidis, Luigia Petti. Socio-Economic Effects in the Knitwear Sector—A Life Cycle-Based Approach Towards the Definition of Social Indicators. The Social Footprints of Global Trade. 2018; ():59-97.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaria Ferrante; Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti. 2018. "Socio-Economic Effects in the Knitwear Sector—A Life Cycle-Based Approach Towards the Definition of Social Indicators." The Social Footprints of Global Trade , no. : 59-97.
Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Roberta Salomone; Luigia Petti; Giovanni Mondello; Andrea Raggi. Is there a simplified LCA tool suitable for the agri-food industry? An assessment of selected tools. Journal of Cleaner Production 2017, 149, 406 -425.
AMA StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis, Roberta Salomone, Luigia Petti, Giovanni Mondello, Andrea Raggi. Is there a simplified LCA tool suitable for the agri-food industry? An assessment of selected tools. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2017; 149 ():406-425.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis; Roberta Salomone; Luigia Petti; Giovanni Mondello; Andrea Raggi. 2017. "Is there a simplified LCA tool suitable for the agri-food industry? An assessment of selected tools." Journal of Cleaner Production 149, no. : 406-425.
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Andrea Raggi; Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti; Marco Sandrucci. The adoption of the industrial ecology principles in post-disaster waste management. International Journal of Sustainable Economy 2017, 9, 341 .
AMA StyleAndrea Raggi, Ioannis Arzoumanidis, Luigia Petti, Marco Sandrucci. The adoption of the industrial ecology principles in post-disaster waste management. International Journal of Sustainable Economy. 2017; 9 (4):341.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndrea Raggi; Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti; Marco Sandrucci. 2017. "The adoption of the industrial ecology principles in post-disaster waste management." International Journal of Sustainable Economy 9, no. 4: 341.
A global increase in the occurrence of natural disasters is documented. In the management of such events, waste and debris removal and treatment methods are important. Indeed, a sustainable management of the event's aftermath should include whether and how these materials can be recyclable or recoverable. The economic side obviously plays also a major role. This paper builds on a flood experience in Italy to discuss the application of the principles of industrial ecology in post-disaster waste management. More specifically it focuses on the management of materials deposited by floodwaters. This paradigm shows how they can be treated innovatively and sustainably. Finally, a carefully designed municipal/regional plan could help tackle issues, such as the materials surplus that would need to be inserted in already-existing eco-industrial supply chains and the capacity of the territory to return to its status prior to the disaster.
Marco Sandrucci; Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti; Andrea Raggi. The adoption of the industrial ecology principles in post-disaster waste management. International Journal of Sustainable Economy 2017, 9, 341 .
AMA StyleMarco Sandrucci, Ioannis Arzoumanidis, Luigia Petti, Andrea Raggi. The adoption of the industrial ecology principles in post-disaster waste management. International Journal of Sustainable Economy. 2017; 9 (4):341.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarco Sandrucci; Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti; Andrea Raggi. 2017. "The adoption of the industrial ecology principles in post-disaster waste management." International Journal of Sustainable Economy 9, no. 4: 341.
Currently, stakeholders’ increasing attention to quality is driving the wine sector to rethink and change its own production processes. Amongst product quality dimensions, the environment is gaining ever-growing attention at various levels of policy-making and business. Given its soundness, the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become widespread in many application contexts. Apart from applications for communication purposes, LCA has also been used in the wine sector to highlight environmental hot spots in supply chains, to compare farming practices and to detect improvement options, inter alia. Case studies whose focus is the wine industry abound in high quality publications. This Chapter has a two-fold focus: firstly, an analysis of the methodologies and standards of the Life Cycle Thinking concept, related to wine, and secondly, a critical analysis of wine LCA case studies in order to compile a list of scientifically-based environmental hot-spots and improvements. The chapter also expands the knowledge on LCA’s application to the wine industry by discussing how best to contribute to: the identification of the critical environmental issues of the wine supply-chain and the essential elements that an LCA case study in the sector should consider; the identification of an optimal set of indicators and methodologies for the evaluation of the environmental impacts of wine; the comparability of results; the improvement of the environmental research quality in this sector.
Luigia Petti; Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Graziella Benedetto; Simona Bosco; Maurizio Cellura; Camillo De Camillis; Valentina Fantin; Paola Masotti; Claudio Pattara; Andrea Raggi; Benedetto Rugani; Giuseppe Tassielli; Manfredi Vale. Life Cycle Assessment in the Wine Sector. Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-food Sector 2015, 123 -184.
AMA StyleLuigia Petti, Ioannis Arzoumanidis, Graziella Benedetto, Simona Bosco, Maurizio Cellura, Camillo De Camillis, Valentina Fantin, Paola Masotti, Claudio Pattara, Andrea Raggi, Benedetto Rugani, Giuseppe Tassielli, Manfredi Vale. Life Cycle Assessment in the Wine Sector. Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-food Sector. 2015; ():123-184.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLuigia Petti; Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Graziella Benedetto; Simona Bosco; Maurizio Cellura; Camillo De Camillis; Valentina Fantin; Paola Masotti; Claudio Pattara; Andrea Raggi; Benedetto Rugani; Giuseppe Tassielli; Manfredi Vale. 2015. "Life Cycle Assessment in the Wine Sector." Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-food Sector , no. : 123-184.
Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Pere Fullana-I-Palmer; Andrea Raggi; Cristina Gazulla; Marco Raugei; Gabriela Benveniste; Marta Anglada. Unresolved issues in the accounting of biogenic carbon exchanges in the wine sector. Journal of Cleaner Production 2014, 82, 16 -22.
AMA StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis, Pere Fullana-I-Palmer, Andrea Raggi, Cristina Gazulla, Marco Raugei, Gabriela Benveniste, Marta Anglada. Unresolved issues in the accounting of biogenic carbon exchanges in the wine sector. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2014; 82 ():16-22.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis; Pere Fullana-I-Palmer; Andrea Raggi; Cristina Gazulla; Marco Raugei; Gabriela Benveniste; Marta Anglada. 2014. "Unresolved issues in the accounting of biogenic carbon exchanges in the wine sector." Journal of Cleaner Production 82, no. : 16-22.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been increasingly used to improve the environmental performance of food systems and simplification of LCA appears to be a vital question, especially for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Following a literature review on simplified LCA tools and their subsequent ranking, some of the best-rated tools were implemented and the results were examined in parallel to those of a full LCA.
Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Andrea Raggi; Luigia Petti. Considerations When Applying Simplified LCA Approaches in the Wine Sector. Sustainability 2014, 6, 5018 -5028.
AMA StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis, Andrea Raggi, Luigia Petti. Considerations When Applying Simplified LCA Approaches in the Wine Sector. Sustainability. 2014; 6 (8):5018-5028.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis; Andrea Raggi; Luigia Petti. 2014. "Considerations When Applying Simplified LCA Approaches in the Wine Sector." Sustainability 6, no. 8: 5018-5028.
This Chapter describes and discusses the approach for identifying a simplified life cycle assessment (LCA) model suited for SMEs in the agri-food sector, addressing both the supply (developments of methods and tools) and demand (what stakeholders desire from a life cycle tool) side of the simplification problem. As far as the demand side is concerned, building on the results of the analysis carried out in Chap. 5, a literature review was carried out, aimed at identifying and characterising already existing simplified approaches and tools. On the supply side, the results of the review were crosschecked with the main outcomes of a survey about the need for simplification, the stakeholders of interest and their needs. This allowed the identification of some criteria for identifying the suitable simplified tool, which was subsequently selected by applying decision making methodologies belonging to the family of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory. This process resulted in the choice of eVerdEE. The validation of this choice is described in Chap. 7, through the application of this tool to a case study and its parallel analysis with the results of a detailed LCA.
Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Alessandra Zamagni; Andrea Raggi; Luigia Petti; Daniele Magazzeni. A Model of Simplified LCA for Agri-Food SMEs. Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS) 2013, 123 -150.
AMA StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis, Alessandra Zamagni, Andrea Raggi, Luigia Petti, Daniele Magazzeni. A Model of Simplified LCA for Agri-Food SMEs. Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS). 2013; ():123-150.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis; Alessandra Zamagni; Andrea Raggi; Luigia Petti; Daniele Magazzeni. 2013. "A Model of Simplified LCA for Agri-Food SMEs." Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS) , no. : 123-150.
The food supply chain has become an important contributor to a number of environmental impacts, and food and drink products are accountable for a significant share of the overall environmental impacts of private consumption. In order for the whole chain to be taken into account, a life cycle approach to environmental assessment is needed; in that framework, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology has been increasingly used to improve the environmental performance of food systems. In this chapter review papers on food LCA case studies were reviewed in terms of methodological key aspects (e.g., functional unit, system boundary, multi-functionality, data, etc.). Moreover, an attempt was made to identify the most critical impacts and life-cycle stages. In the case studies reviewed, different assumptions and methodologies were found and discussed. However, it was not possible to clearly identify one or more environmental impacts as being more important than others. Finally, no sure conclusions were drawn regarding the most impacting stage, although the agricultural one was mentioned most frequently.
Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti; Andrea Raggi; Alessandra Zamagni. Life Cycle Assessment for the Agri-Food Sector. Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS) 2013, 105 -122.
AMA StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis, Luigia Petti, Andrea Raggi, Alessandra Zamagni. Life Cycle Assessment for the Agri-Food Sector. Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS). 2013; ():105-122.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti; Andrea Raggi; Alessandra Zamagni. 2013. "Life Cycle Assessment for the Agri-Food Sector." Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS) , no. : 105-122.
In Chap. 6 a simplified Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool that could be suitable for SMEs, especially in the food industry, was identified. In this Chapter, the selected tool (eVerdEE) was tested for its robustness and suitability, by implementing it to an Italian wine produced by a small winery. A full LCA was also carried out to evaluate in parallel the results of the two tools. Furthermore, the implementation of the simplified LCA tool aimed also to check whether it actually meets the criteria against which it was assessed for its selection. It was found that both tools showed fossil depletion and climate change as the impact categories with the highest normalised scores. Nevertheless, no safe considerations could be drawn with regard to which phase contributed more, as different stages contributed differently to the various impact categories. Finally, some general considerations regarding strengths and weaknesses of the implementation of LCA in SMEs were outlined, especially as regards data collection.
Ioannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti; Andrea Raggi; Alessandra Zamagni. The Implementation of Simplified LCA in Agri-Food SMEs. Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS) 2013, 151 -173.
AMA StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis, Luigia Petti, Andrea Raggi, Alessandra Zamagni. The Implementation of Simplified LCA in Agri-Food SMEs. Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS). 2013; ():151-173.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIoannis Arzoumanidis; Luigia Petti; Andrea Raggi; Alessandra Zamagni. 2013. "The Implementation of Simplified LCA in Agri-Food SMEs." Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS) , no. : 151-173.