Environmental and economic sustainability assessment of Navel oranges from the cultivation to the packinghouse according to Environmental Product Declarations System

In this paper, the environmental impacts and economic performance of orange cultivation and processing in Calabria Region (Italy) were analyzed by means of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and cost accounting methodologies. The environmental analysis was implemented according to Product Category Rules (PCRs) - UN CPC 013. In particular, the orange cultivation and fresh-fruit primary processing were analyzed, excluding the transport from the packinghouse to the final users, in order to identify the most impacting phase in the life cycle of Navel orange fruits. Primary data were directly collected from both the farmer and processing plant. According to Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), EPD 2008 method was used to estimate the environmental impacts; results showed that the orange cultivation was the subsystem with the highest environmental burdens for several impact categories. The economic analysis was conducted by inventorying all cost items in three macro-categories and calculating the total cost of the subsystems. Economic results highlighted that the costs of oranges are higher in the cultivation stage than in packinghouse operations, due to the hiring of temporary workers for agricultural operations and harvesting. The findings of this paper could be a support for the environmental certification of fruits as well as a guide for farmers and entrepreneurs to identify critical points both in environmental and economic terms.