Sostenibilidad medioambiental y económica de hortalizas mínimamente procesadas en fresco
- Laura Rasines 1
- G. San Miguel 2
- Encarna Aguayo 1
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1
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena
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2
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
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- Francisco Artés Hernández (coord.)
- Eva Armero Ibáñez (coord.)
- Ginés Benito Martínez Hernández (coord.)
- Mª del Carmen Martínez Ballesta (coord.)
- Manuel Tornel Martínez (coord.)
Publisher: Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena
ISBN: 978-84-17853-74-7
Year of publication: 2023
Pages: 18-21
Congress: Workshop on Agri-Food Research for young researchers (12. 2023. Cartagena)
Type: Conference paper
Abstract
This research evaluated the environmental and economic sustainability of fresh-cut vegetables, which are highly demanded by consumers. An environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA) of 1 kg of fresh-cut vegetables (cradle-to-market) has been done, using EF 3.0 method to quantify five midpoint impact categories and the single score. Furthermore, an environmental life cycle costing (E-LCC) was conducted. The carbon footprint and the total cost was 0.72 kg CO2 eq/kg and 2.62 €/kg, respectively. The farming stage (upstream) was the greatest contributor because of vegetable production, followed by the electricity consumption for vegetable processing in the industry (core) and the transport of packaged products to market (downstream). E-LCC analysis highlighted the labour cost (core), not included in E-LCA, as the main contributor. Finally, the eco-efficiency showed that the upstream stage was the less efficient stage.