Life cycle based assessment for agricultural productsAn Austrian best practice

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Assessment , Solutions and Applied Research

27/08/2013 LCM 2013 Göteburg [email protected]

Life cycle based assessment for agricultural products

An Austrian best practice

Martin Wildenberg, Tanja Altaparmakova, Kewin Comploi, Dominik Frieling, Anna Geiger

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Structure of the talkIntroduction & BackgroundThe GLOBAL 2000 Approach- The Process- Infrastructure- ResultsSuccess factors & lessons learned

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Austrian Environmental NGO (www.global2000.at)

Part of the Friends of the Earth Network

• Political campaigns and activism

• Education and Awareness

• Solution oriented cooperations

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Measuring impacts: Inputs and outputs of society:

OutputsSocietySocial

MetabolismInputs

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We suggested a label that:

- Focuses on conventional food & farming

- Focuses on whole production chain

- Can make the environmental impact of a product visible

- Can make the resource rucksacks of a product visible

- Rests on measurable indicators -> you can only manage what you know

- Induces a process with the participants to increase the sustainability of their products step by step

- Creates a Win – Win situation for producers – retailer – customer and environment

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The GLOBAL 2000 adaptive labeling approach for sustainable agricultural products

Aim: • set incentives for farmers, distributors and retailers to adopt a

more sustainable production mode • inform consumers about environmental impacts of their

choices.

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Use case: Pro Planet – Austria fruit vegetable and eggs

The Label:

In Germany & Austria- Identify & resolve social and ecological hot-spots

in the production chain

In Austria:

For fruits, vegetables and eggs:

Cooperation between Caritas, REWE International AG & GLOBAL 2000

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The building blocks of the programG

ood

Agr

icul

tura

l P

ract

ice

Glo

bal G

ap

Soc

ial P

ract

ice

GR

AS

P &

SA

800

0C

arita

s

Co

nsu

me

r S

afe

tyP

estic

ide

Mon

itorin

g P

RP

Ecological SustainabilityIndicator setRules and regulationsStakeholder process

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The focus of our indicator system

Ressource use

Impacts on environment

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Farm based indicatorsN-balance P-balanceHumus-balancePesticide use Energy intensity

Calculated by INL using the model REPRO (Hülsbergen et al 2003)

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Per service unit indicators (MIPS):Carbon-footprint Biotic Material InputA-biotic Material InputWater inputArea used

Field to shelf(Schmidt-Bleek 1998, Ritthof 2002, GHG Protocol)

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Field records (machine use etc.)Pesticide useYieldsIn case of fruit rotation the

data should cover at least three years

Data on other inputs (energy & materials) collection via standardized form

Calculated by using factors from the EcoInvent Database

Data needed:

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For a product-group zero-tolerance thresholds were defined. If crossed the product cannot be labeled.

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Benchmarking Water:Increasing product water efficiency in Spain or how to set incentives to use more and more water…

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Benchmarking Water:Include water availability in watershed based on :

more absolute water use in the Watershed = lower benchmark

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The Soft side of Labeling:

InvolvementKnowledge exchangeEducation

= Participation & Change

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Stakeholder Process

BenchmarkingRegulations

Hotspots

Participants:• Producer• Distributor• Producer-organization• Quality Management• Experts• GLOBAL 2000• Caritas

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Different communication to:

- Producer- Retailer- Consumer

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Results

After starting with the labeling of Austrian open-land strawberries in June 2010…

• Over 550 farms & suppliers have submitted data in 2013• 30 product groups have been screened from which • 25 products labeled. • 50+ stakeholder workshops have been conducted

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biotischer in

put kg /

kg

abiotisch

input k

g / kg

Fläc

he m² /

kg

Wass

er m³ /

kg

CO2e eq. Kg /

kg0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Tomato Greenhouse AUT (Gas-heating)Tomato Greenhouse AUT (comunity heating)Cocktail Tomato ESP (tunnel)Tomato ESP (tunnel)Tomato AUT (tunnel)

Comparing production systems

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CO2 eq. per kg sweet maize and level od origin. In average soil carbon losscontributes to 16% of total CO2 emissions from field to shelf.

Identifying Hotspots

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Paprik

a FT

Tom

atoe

s (p

. t.)

Rad

ish

Lettu

ceC

hine

se C

abba

ge

Cab

bage

Iceb

erg

Lettu

ceStra

wbe

rryH

orse

radi

sh

Potat

oeG

rape

s IT

A

Oni

on

Apple

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

1 2 2

45 5 5 5

7

9

15 15

16

Pesticide use index

Pro-Planet product

Comparing products:

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Comparing producers:

0,0

5,0

10,0

15,0

20,0

25,0

30,0

35,0

40,0

Pflanzenschutz-Index

Häufigkeit und Menge von Pestizid-Anwendungen 2011

Pflanzenschutzindex Pro Planet-ÄpfelIhr Betrieb (Mittelw ert aller Schläge)OptimumgrenzeToleranzgrenze

Pfla

nze

ns

ch

utz

-In

de

x

Variation in Pesticide Index in 138 apple producers

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Changes achieved:- In crop rotation patterns- Feed composition (eggs)- Packaging- Transport packaging- New product line for “ugly” vegetables- Pesticide use

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Lessons Learned

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Ten Success factors1. Largely relying on data that is available and recorded anyway

2. Indicators point at hotspots

3. Indicators cover resource use, direct impacts on environment & health

4. Improvements can be quantified & communicated in understandable units

5. Indicators are relevant for producers to improve efficiency

6. Life cycle approach – transparency and responsibility over production chain

7. Third party assessments

8. Stakeholder involvement

9. Cooperation with important stakeholders: supermarket-chain, GlobalG.A.P. and farm management software

10. Constant evaluation, adaptation and further development

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Obstacles and ProblemsSome important topics currently still too complicated to be

considered via indicators e.g. biodiversity, erosion.

Our current model for agricultural indicators restricted to central European soils and climate

The set of indicators is considered too complicated to communicate

Many sustainability problems are systemic. The cause are in the way food is commercialized.

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Thank You!

Contact:Dr Martin Wildenberg

T: +43-699-14200046

[email protected]

Life cycle based assessment for agricultural productsAn Austrian best practice

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