Feb 10, 2015 - depletion (mineral and fossil) fresh water ecotoxicity, eutrophication, ...... Footprint Helpdesk, PEFCRs/OEFSRs reviewers, Environmental ...
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PEF screening report in the context of the EU Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) Olive Oil Pilot
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16 December 2015 - v.3.0
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Draft for the steering committee
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Hanna L. Tuomisto (European Commission, Joint Research Centre), Carlo Russo (University of Foggia), George Michalopoulos (RodaxAgro Ltd), Claudio Pattara (University G.d’Annunzio), Juan Antonio Polo Palomino (CO2 consulting S.L.)
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On behalf of the technical secretariat of the Environmental Footprint olive oil pilot.
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Based on:
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Template for the PEF screening report in the context of the EU Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) Pilots -25 July 2015 –v.1.1
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Product Environmental Footprint Pilot Guidance (version no. 5.1)
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Disclaimer
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The screening study is intended to support the development of the PEF Category Rules (PEFCR) for Olive Oil.
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The target audience is stakeholders in the virtual consultation and the Environmental Footprint Pilot Technical Advisory Board and Steering Committee. This screening study shall not be used for any further conclusions than those which are relevant for the development of the PEFCR for Olive Oil.
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Contents
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Abbreviations and Units.......................................................................................................................... 6 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 7 2 Goal of the study ............................................................................................................................. 8 2.1 Intended applications ............................................................................................................. 8
34
2.2
The main limitations of the study are as follows: ................................................................... 8
35
2.3
Target audience ...................................................................................................................... 8
36
2.4
Statement ............................................................................................................................... 8
37 38
3
Scope of the screening .................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Function, functional unit and reference flow ......................................................................... 9
39
3.1.1
Functional unit ................................................................................................................ 9
40
3.1.2
Olive oils in the European market ................................................................................... 9
41
3.1.3
Market analysis ............................................................................................................. 11
42
3.1.4
Structure of farms and mills in Greece, Spain and Italy ................................................ 13
43
3.1.5
Representative product ................................................................................................ 16
44
3.2
The life cycle of an Olive Oil .................................................................................................. 16
45
3.2.1
Overall life cycle ............................................................................................................ 16
46
3.2.2
Olive cultivation ............................................................................................................ 17
47
3.2.3
Olive oil extraction ........................................................................................................ 18
48
3.3
System boundaries and system boundary diagram .............................................................. 20
49
3.4
Exclusions .............................................................................................................................. 24
50
3.5
Assumptions and value judgments ....................................................................................... 24
51
3.6
Information about the data used and data gaps .................................................................. 24
52
3.7
Impact categories, models and indicators; ........................................................................... 28
53
3.8
Normalisation and weighting factors.................................................................................... 29
54
3.9
Treatment of multi-functionality .......................................................................................... 30
55
3.9.1
General requirements ................................................................................................... 30
56
3.9.2
Method used in the screening study ............................................................................ 31
57 58
4
Compiling and recording the life cycle inventory analysis ............................................................ 33 4.1 Description and documentation of all unit process data ..................................................... 33
59
4.1.1
Data sources for olive production and olive mill processes ......................................... 33
60
4.1.2
Data sources for packaging ........................................................................................... 36
61
4.1.3
Data sources for end of life processes .......................................................................... 38
62
4.2
Data collection procedures ................................................................................................... 38
63
4.3
Methodological assumptions used in the screening ............................................................ 38 2
64 65 66
4.4 5
Life cycle inventory results.................................................................................................... 46
Calculating PEF impact assessment results................................................................................... 46 5.1 Data and indicator results prior to normalisation ................................................................ 46
67
5.1.1
Olive production ........................................................................................................... 51
68
5.1.2
Olive oil processing ....................................................................................................... 52
69
5.1.3
Packaging ...................................................................................................................... 56
70
5.1.4
Distribution ................................................................................................................... 58
71
5.1.5
End of life ...................................................................................................................... 59
72
5.2
Normalised results ................................................................................................................ 60
73
5.3
Weighted results ................................................................................................................... 60
74 75
6
Interpretation................................................................................................................................ 60 6.1 Sensitivity analysis ................................................................................................................ 60
76
6.1.1
6.1.1 Sensitivity analysis of the olive production phase ............................................... 60
77
6.1.2
Sensitivity analysis of different nitrogen emissions models ......................................... 64
78
6.1.3
Sensitivity analysis of packaging phase ......................................................................... 65
79
6.1.4
Sensitivity analysis of the allocation method ............................................................... 67
80
6.1.5
Sensitivity analysis of the end of life modelling ............................................................ 69
81
6.2
Environmental hotspots........................................................................................................ 69
82
6.3
Most relevant and irrelevant processes and life cycle stages .............................................. 73
83
6.4
Most relevant and irrelevant impact categories .................................................................. 82
84
6.5
Most relevant elementary flows ........................................................................................... 83
85
6.6
Completeness........................................................................................................................ 84
86 87 88 89
7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 84 Sources. ................................................................................................................................................. 86
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) is a multi-criteria measure of the environmental performance of goods and services from a life cycle perspective. Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) provide category-specific guidance for calculating and reporting life cycle environmental impacts of products. This document reports the methods and results of a screening study carried out in the context of developing PEFCR for olive oil.
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The objective of the screening was to pre-identify the following key information: - Most relevant life cycle stages; - Most relevant processes; - Preliminary indication about the most relevant life cycle impact categories; - Data quality needs; - Preliminary indication about the definition of the benchmark for the product category/subcategories in scope.
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Intermediate representative product has been developed for the following olive oil types: • Virgin olive oil,including a) extra virgin and b) virgin olive oils • Refined olive oil • Refined pomace oil The packaging for the virtual olive oil is constructed from the average European mix of three types of packaging: glass, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and metal cans (composed by aluminium, and steel). The packaging includes other auxiliary elements as closures, capsules, labels, boxes, etc.
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The system boundaries are a “cradle-to-grave” approach, starting from extraction of resources from nature and ending to waste treatment. Input production for olive crop, energy for mill, and inputs for packaging are included in upstream processes. Olive production in olive orchard, olive oil processing and olive oil packaging has been considered as core processes, while the distribution to market, use phase and end of life have been included in downstream processes.
The functional unit is a litre of packed olive oil. It corresponds to the functional unit of the EPDs (Environmental Product Declarations) published to date for olive oil, based on the respective PCR, where the functional unit is defined as: “1 litre of olive oil including its packaging, to be used by consumers as salad dressing and for cooking”. The representative product has been modelled as a virtual olive oil that is based on the average mix of different types of olive oils consumed in Europe, merging the different farming practices among countries, and the various European oil processing technologies.
Economic allocation was used to allocate the impacts between co-products from olive oil mill. Regarding end-of-life formula, the default end-of-life formula as presented in the PEF guide was applied. The data used for the olive oil mill operations have been collected directly from oil mills that cover the main olive oil mill technologies in Europe. Background datasets do not provide sufficient data for all processes. Therefore, proxies were used in some cases (e.g. capital goods of the olive oil mill), so they are not fully aligned with the PEF guidance.
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Due to many different ways of using olive oil, it was impossible to construct an accurate average European use scenario for the representative product. Therefore, the use phase is based on estimates and assumptions made by the members of the olive oil TS, based on their experience.
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Olive oil production was modelled based on data from Italy, Spain and Greece. Those countries produce over 95% of olive oil produced in Europe and more than is consumed in Europe (Europe is a net exporter of olive oil).
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All life cycle stages (i.e. olive production, olive oil extraction, packaging, distribution, use and end of life) were found to be relevant (i.e. cumulatively contributing to the top 80% of any impact category). Hotspot life cycle stages (e.g. cumulatively contributing to the top 50% of any impact category) were all other life cycle stages exept distribution. Olive production stage had the highest contribution to most of the impact categories, and it contributed more than 90% to five impact categories and more than 50% to 10 impact categories out of 15 impact categories.
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The most relevant processes and hotspots (marked with *) included the following:
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Olive production * Virgin olive oil extraction Extraction of pomace olive oil * Capital goods for olive oil mill Olive oil packaging * Transport to consumer Cooking End of life management of waste oil End of life management of tin plate
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As the ILCD normalisation factors have high uncertainty, the most relevant impact categories were selected based on expert judgement related to the important issues related to olive oil production and public opinion about important environmental impact categories. The environmental impacts selected as most relevant include climate change, land use, resource depletion water use, resource depletion (mineral and fossil) fresh water ecotoxicity, eutrophication, ozone depletion, photochemical ozone formation and acidification.
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This study has an overall fair data quality and the results are regarded as representative of the average European olive oil production. However, as olive production practices and especially yields are highly variable, the EF results can have a wide range of variability, and therefore, more analysis is needed to determine robust performance classes.
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Regarding data quality needs, due to the high importance of olive fruit production stage, there is a need to have high quality data for this stage in PEFCR studies. There is also a need to develop a method to establish clear, agronomically sensible, production system classes, before attempting product performance comparisons.
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Abbreviations and Units
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CPA EF ha Litre JRC LCI PEF PEFCR
Classification of Products by Activity Environmental Footprint Hectare (10000 m2) area unit Volume unit for liquids European Commission’s Joint Research Centre Life Cycle Inventory Product Environmental Footprint Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules
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1 Introduction
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The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) is a multi-criteria measure of the environmental performance of goods and services from a life cycle perspective. PEF studies are produced for the overarching purpose of seeking to reduce the environmental impacts associated with goods and services, taking into account supply chain activities (from extraction of raw materials, through production and use, to final waste management).
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Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs)1 provide category-specific guidance for calculating and reporting life cycle environmental impacts of products. Existing life cycle-based standards do not provide sufficient specificities to ensure that consistent assumptions and measurements are made. In order to address that limitation, the use of PEFCRs will play an important role in increasing the reproducibility, relevance, and consistency of PEF studies (and therefore comparability between PEF calculations within the same product category). The existence of a PEFCR helps direct the focus to the most important parameters of the PEF study, thus also reducing time, effort and costs.
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This document reports the methods and results of a screening study carried out in the context of developing PEFCR for olive oil. The Classification of Products by Activity (CPA)2 code for the products covered in this screening study are as follows: 10.41.23 Olive oil, crude (virgin and extra virgin); 10.41.53 Olive oil and its fractions, refined but not chemically modified; and 10.41.59 Other oils and their fractions, refined but not chemically modified; fixed vegetable fats and other vegetable oils (except maize oil) and their fractions n.e.c. refined but not chemically modified: only pomace olive oils are included from this group.
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The unit of analysis is a litre of packed olive oil used by consumers as salad dressing and for cooking. The representative product has been modelled as a virtual olive oil that is based on the average mix of different types of olive oils consumed in Europe, and taking into account different agricultural and olive oil processing technologies. Intermediate representative product has been developed for the following olive oil types: i) virgin olive oil (including virgin, extra virgin and lampante olive oils), ii) refined olive oil, and iii) refined pomace oil.
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The packaging for the virtual olive oil is constructed from the average European mix of three types of packaging: glass, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and steel cans (composed by tin and steel). The packaging includes other auxiliary elements as closures, capsules, labels, boxes, etc.
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The system analysed includes cradle-to-grave impacts of average olive oil consumed in the European markets, including production of olives, olive oil extraction, distribution and end of life treatment.
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European Commission (2013). "Annex II to Recommendation (2013/179/EU) on the use of common methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations. 2 REGULATION (EC) No 451/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 April 2008 establishing a new statistical classification of products by activity (CPA) and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3696/93
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The study was carried out by the Technical Secretariat (TS) of the olive oil PEFCR pilot. The study has been conducted according to the requirements of the PEF Guide (Annex II to Recommendation (2013/179/EU) and the Product Environmental Footprint Pilot Guidance (version no. 5.0)
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2 Goal of the study
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2.1 Intended applications The objective of the screening is to pre-identify the following key information in the context of development of the PEFCR for olive oil:
Most relevant life cycle stages; Most relevant processes; Preliminary indication about the most relevant life cycle impact categories; Data quality needs; Preliminary indication about the definition of the benchmark for the product category/subcategories in scope.
2.2 The main limitations of the study are as follows:
Only conventional olive fruit production methods are included in the main screening model. Organic farming practices are considered in the sensitivity assessment. The data for the olive oil mill operations is collected only from a few olive oil mills. However, those mills should cover the main olive oil mill technologies in Europe. Background datasets do not provide sufficient data for all processes, and therefore, proxies were used in some cases (e.g. capital goods of the olive oil mill). Background datasets used are not fully aligned with the PEF guidance (e.g. end of life modelling and regionalisation of water flows in the Ecoinvent background datasets). The impact of distribution centres and retail are not included in the assessment. Due to many different ways of using olive oil, it was impossible construct a realistic average European use scenario for the representative product. Therefore, the use phase is based on large estimates and assumptions. The use phase does not include washing dishes. There are limitations regarding the impact assessment methods and normalisation factors as discussed in Benini et al. 2014.
2.3 Target audience The target audience of the screening study is the reviewers of the PEF screening studies appointed by the European Commission, the stakeholders participating to the public consultation of the first draft PEFCR for olive oil and the members of the PEF technical advisory board and the steering committee.
2.4 Statement The screening is not intended to make statements about the product group impacts as such, nor is it intended to be used in the context of comparison or for comparative assertions to be disclosed to the public.
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3 Scope of the screening
254 255
3.1 Function, functional unit and reference flow
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3.1.1
Functional unit
258 259
The functional unit is a litre of packed olive oil used by consumers as salad dressing and for cooking. The specifications of the definition are presented in Table 1.
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Table 1 Functional unit
WHAT HOW MUCH HOW LONG HOW WELL
Olive oil 1 litre packed Until expiry date Suitable for human consumption
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3.1.2 Olive oils in the European market Olive oil is the oil obtained solely from the fruit of the olive tree (Olea europaea L.) to the exclusion of oils obtained using solvents or re-esterification processes and of any mixture with oils of other kinds.
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The European regulation about types of olive oil is described on Commission Regulation (EC) No 2568/91, as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1348/2013, defines the physical, chemical and organoleptic characteristics of olive oils and olive-pomace oils and lays down methods of assessing these characteristics.
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In the IOC standards, virgin olive oils are olive oil fit for consumption as they are. They are the oils obtained from the fruit of the olive tree (Olea europaea L.) solely by mechanical or other physical means under conditions, particularly thermal conditions, that do not lead to alterations in the oil, and which have not undergone any treatment other than washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration.
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Refined olive oils are obtained from virgin olive oils by refining methods that do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure.
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Olive pomace oil is the oil obtained by treating olive pomace (the residue from virgin olive oil production) with solvents or other physical treatments, to the exclusion of oils obtained by reesterification processes and of any mixture with oils of other kinds.
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The detailed classifications of different olive oils is based on European legislation (EC REG No 1348/2013) are an overview is given here (Figure 1). The legislation groups olive oils in eight categories:
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Figure 1. Different olive oil types
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1) Extra virgin olive oil: virgin olive oil that has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.8%, and the other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category.
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2) Virgin olive oil: Virgin olive oil that has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, from 0.8 to 2 % and the other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category.
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3) Lampante olive oil: virgin olive oil that has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, more than 2 % and the other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category. Lampante olive oil may be sold directly to the consumer only if permitted in the country of retail sale. If not permitted, the designation of this product has to comply with the legal provisions of the country concerned. Lampante olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of more than 3.3 % is not fit for human consumption. It is intended for further refining.
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4) Refined olive oil: is the olive oil obtained from virgin olive oils (generally lampante olive oil) by refining methods that do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 % and its other characteristics correspond to those fixed for this category. This designation may be sold directly to the consumer only if permitted in the country of retail sale.
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5) Olive oil composed of refined and virgin olive oils: is a mixture of virgin olive oil and refined olive oil and has free acidity less than 1.0 %.
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6) Crude olive-pomace is the residue from virgin olive oil production. It does not have a limit for acidity. It is intended for refining for use for human consumption, or it is intended for technical use.
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7) Refined olive-pomace oil is the oil obtained from crude olive pomace oil by refining methods that do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 %. This product may only be sold directly to the consumer if permitted in the country of retail sale.
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8) Olive-pomace oil is the oil comprising the blend of refined olive pomace oil and virgin olive oils fit for consumption as they are. It has a free acidity of not more than 1 %. The country of retail sale may require a more specific designation.
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3.1.3 Market analysis In the EU, olive trees are grown in Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, France, Cyprus, Slovenia, Croatia
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and Malta. European Union is the main olive oil producer in the world (Figure 2). Spain, Greece and
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Italy account for over 90% of the European production (Figure 3). Spain is the world’s largest
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producer and exporter of olive oil. Italy stands in first place for consumption and imports, and ranks
319
second in production. The import, export and consumption figures are presented in Figure 4, 5 and
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6, respectively. The Figures 2-6 include all eight types of olive oil listed in Section 3.1.2. The
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quantities for pomace oil production, consumption and trade in Spain, Greece and Italy are
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presented in Table 2. EU olive oil production vs world oilve oil production 100% 90% 80%
% of productiion
70% 60% 50% 40%
30% 20% 10% 0% 2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15 (prov)
2015/16 (prev)
rest of world
726
655.8
643.9
736.2
594.3
730.8
748.9
865.9
925.8
965.6
769.4
1010.5
939
rest of UE
43
53.4
41.2
59.4
45.4
63.7
73.1
76.2
86.4
69.7
105.4
347.5
99.5
italy
685
879
636.5
490
510
540
430
440
399.2
415.5
463.7
222
350
greece
308
435
424
370
327.2
305
320
301
294.6
357.9
132
300
300
spain
1412
989.8
826.9
1111.4
1236.1
1030
1401.5
1391.9
1615
616.3
1781.5
564
1300
323 324 325
Figure 2. Olive oil production in the EU (ue) and in the world. Source: International Olive Council. (quantities in 1000 tonnes)
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11
EU olive´s oil production per country 100% 90%
% of each country on total EU
80% 70% 60%
50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
2014/15 (prov)
2015/16 (prev) 0.4
slovenia
0.2
0
0.5
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.7
0.7
0.5
0.2
0.6
0.2
portugal
31.2
41.2
29.1
47.5
36.3
53.4
62.5
62.9
76.2
59.1
91.6
61
82
italy
685
879
636.5
490
510
540
430
440
399.2
415.5
463.7
222
350
greece
308
435
424
370
327.2
305
320
301
294.6
357.9
132
300
300
france
4.6
4.7
4.4
3.3
4.7
7
5.7
6.1
3.2
4.8
4.8
1.9
5.5
spain
1412
989.8
826.9
1111.4
1236.1
1030
1401.5
1391.9
1615
616.3
1781.5
564
1300
4.6
1
5.6
7
7.5
7.2
8.3
4
2.8
4.2
6.5
6.5
5.6
3.8
6.2
6
98%
98%
98%
97%
98%
97%
97%
97%
96%
95%
96%
76%
95%
croatia
cyprus %TS
327
2013/14
328 329
Figure 3. Olive oil production in Europe in 2003-2014. Source: International Olive Council. (Season 2014/2015 provisional data, quantities in 1000 tonnes).
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Table 2 Production of pomace olive oil (in tons per year)
Pomace oil
GREECE
SPAIN
ITALY
Production
27 750
121 192
80 000
Main production areas
Peloponnese, Central Greece, Crete, Lesbos, Halkidiki, Kavala, Islands
Andalucia (82%)
Puglia (35%), Calabria (20%), Sicilia (11%), Campania (10%)
Import
1 500
33 147
7 642
40 975
Export
34 700
95 075
Consumption
6 000
49 303
47 00
331 332
12
333 334
Figure 4 shows that the EU is net exporter of olive oil. The importations from extra EU countries re present approximately 5% of the total consumption in the EU.
OLIVE OIL NET TRADE IN EU 3000
2500
1000 Tonnes
2000
1500 PRODUCTION EXPORT EXTRA UE
1000
IMPORT EXTRA UE CONSUMPTION 500
0 2013/14
2014/15 (prov)
2015/16 (prev)
1461.7
2482
1433.5
2049.5
491.4
600.7
504
530.4
96.6
153.2
53.2
198.5
132.8
1790.3
1621.4
1730.9
1532.4
1615
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
PRODUCTION
2448
2357.2
1928.6
2030.8
2118.7
1938.7
2224.6
2209.1
2395.2
EXPORT EXTRA UE
324.4
330.5
310.6
350.9
357
376.2
444.4
481.3
555.5
IMPORT EXTRA UE
231.8
186.2
188.7
223.7
162
96.2
78
82.3
CONSUMPTION
1997.3
2078.9
1917.9
1904.6
1865.9
1856
1846
1866.5
335 336
Figure 4. Olive oil net trade in the EU (Source: International Olive Council)
337 338 3.1.4
339
Structure of farms and mills in Greece, Spain and Italy
340 341 342 343 344
Eurostat reports that there were 1.9 million farms with olive groves in the EU in 2007. The olive sector is characterised by a large number of small operations (variation from 0.5 ha to >20 ha/holding). The characteristics of the olive grows and olive mills in the main producing countries in Europe are summarised in Table 3.
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At national level, olives are Spain´s second largest crop in terms of acreage, after cereals, and can be found in 34 of the country´s 50 provinces. Sixty per cent of the total olive acreage is located in Andalusia3.
348 349
Around half of the olive oil operations in the EU producer countries specialise in olive oil production. However, there are major disparities among EU regions: in Andalusia and Apulia, between 65% and
3
Source: Agencia para el aceite de Oliva. AAO
13
350 351 352 353
80% of the farms are specialised. In contrast, in Portugal, Cyprus and Slovenia, the majority of holdings do not specialise in olive growing. In small farms, olive oil production may be a secondary, traditional and family activity: oil is produced for self-consumption and only a small amount may be marketed for direct sale.
354 355 356
Twenty percent of the farms in Spain specialise in olive growing compared with 25% in Greece and 19% in Italy. Spain accounts for 50% of the total olive area in the 27-member European Union, followed by Italy with 24%, Greece with 17% and Portugal with 8%.4
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Regarding the olive mills, Italy still has more traditional systems (pressure), while in Spain and Greece, use mainly centrifugal systems. When it comes to the quality of olive oil, the extra virgin olive oil reaches about 80% of the total production in Greece and Italy, whereas only 50% in Spain.
360 361
4
(Source: EUROSTAT, 2009)
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362
Table 3 Structure of farms and mills
Farms:
GREECE
SPAIN
ITALY
Average size (ha)
1.5
5.5
1.3
Annual turnover
750 M€
2 094 M€
1 700 M€
Number of holdings
531 000
413 000
776 000
c. The main producing areas
Peloponnese, Central Greece, Crete, Lesbos, Halkidiki, Kavala, Islands
Andalucía (60%), Castilla La Mancha (16%), Extremadura (10%) Cataluña (5%), C. Valenciana (4%)
Puglia (35%), Calabria (20%), Sicilia (11%), Campania (10%)
Mills:
GREECE
SPAIN
ITALY
Number of mills
2 027
1 751
4 624
Average quantities processed (tons/mill/yr)
134.4
761.3
2 phase decanter
7%
85%
17%
3 phase decanter
87%
5%
43%
Pressure
6%
7%
40%
The main producing areas
Peloponnese, Central Greece, Crete, Lesbos, Halkidiki, Kavala, Islands
Andalucía (82%), Castilla La Mancha (8%), Extremadura (4%) Cataluña (2%), C. Valenciana (2%)
Puglia (35%), Calabria (20%), Sicilia (11%), Campania (10%)
Type of oil (EVOO, pomace ... etc.)
mainly extra virgin olive oil (80%)
50% EVOO, 30% VOO, 20% LOO
86% EVOO, 6% VOO, 9% LOO
Type of packaging
Maximum 5 l
Technologies used
363
75% Glass Bottle, 15% Tin Can, 10% Other pack
Abbreviations: EVOO = Extra virgin olive oil, VOO = Virgin olive oil, LOO = Lampante olive oil
364 365
15
366 367
3.1.5
Representative product
368 369 370 371 372
The representative product for the screening study has been modelled as a virtual olive oil that is based on the average mix of different types of olive oils consumed in Europe, and taking into account the major agricultural and olive oil processing technologies. Intermediate representative product has been developed for the following olive oil types: i) virgin olive oil (including virgin and extra virgin olive oils), ii) refined olive oil, and iii) refined pomace oil.
373 374 375 376 377
Virgin olive oils are obtained by pressing olives. The type of olive oil obtained is determined based on the physical, chemical and organoleptic characteristics of olive oils. Extra virgin and virgin olive oils are marketed as food without further processing. Lampante olive oil has to go through refining process before it can marketed as food. Refined pomace olive oil is extracted from the leftovers of the pressing process by using refining methods.
378 379 380 381 382 383 384
The percentages of the different olive oil types used for this study (Table 4) are based on the share of different olive oils produced in Italy, Spain and Greece (Sections 3.1.3 and 3.1.4). These three countries produce 2200 Mg of olive oil per year, which account for over 95% of olive oil produced in the EU. The EU exports around 550 Mg and imports 100 Mg of olive oil per year. The total amount of olive oil consumed in the EU is 1600 Mg per year, which is less than the total amount of olive oil produced in Spain, Italy and Greece. Therefore, the olive oil production systems in those three countries were regarded representative of the average olive oil consumed in the EU.
385 386
Table 4 The percentage of different olive oil types used for the screening study for the virtual representative product.(Source: calculation based on IOC data)
Virgin/Extra Virgin Olive Oil Refined Olive Oil Pomace Olive Oil Total 387 388 389 390 391 392 393
Total 70.0 20.7 9.3 100.0
Greece 13.2 1.3 1.1 15.6
Spain 39.4 17.6 4.9 61.9
Italy 17.4 1.8 3.3 22.5
The packaging for the virtual olive oil is constructed from the average European mix of three types of packaging: glass (60%), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (20%) and metal cans (composed of aluminium, tin and steel) (20%). The packaging includes other auxiliary elements, such as closures, capsules, labels and boxes. The expiry date for olive oil is always stated as 18 months regardless of the packaging material used. Therefore, different shelf life of olive oil in all packaging materials was considered to be the same.
394 395 396 397 398 399 400
3.2 The life cycle of an Olive Oil 3.2.1 Overall life cycle The overall life cycle of olive oil production is described in Figure 5. The system boundaries include processes from cradle to grave, including production of inputs and energy sources, olive production, olive oil extraction, packaging, distribution, use and waste management.
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Figure 5 System diagram of olive oil production
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3.2.2 Olive cultivation The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is an evergreen and long-lived species, cultivated for centuries for its edible fruits. They have to be subjected to various processing technologies in order to obtain oil or table olives that are the basic aliments of the so-called “Mediterranean diet”. Such products show high nutritional and organoleptic values and they have been shown to be valuable for human health (Visioli et al., 1999; Visioli et al., 2006). Furthermore, olive oil and leaves are usefully employed in the herboristic and cosmetic sectors, while a promising perspective could be the recovery from olive mill wastewater (OMW) of phenolic compounds, such as hydroxytyrosol. These compounds are powerful antioxidants and show potential beneficial properties for human health as well as effective antimicrobial activity. They could be used as ingredients in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic products or as a natural pesticide against a variety of seed infections (Allouche et al., 2004; Yangui et al., 2009).
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In addition, olive stone can be used for different purposes, such as a renewable source of biopolyols useful in polymer chemistry and in food science (Matos et al., 2010), a low-cost sorbent for heavy metals and basic dyes removal from aqueous solutions (Aziz et al., 2009), and a source for energy generation (García-Maraver et al., 2012).
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Broadly speaking, there are two main methods of olive growing: i) traditional processes, generally in mountainous or hilly areas that are not irrigated, and ii) modern processes which involve irrigation and mechanisation. However, there are a number of production systems, such as dry, irrigated, mechanised, non-mechanised, organic, intensive and highly intensive. The three main olive orchard systems are:
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3.2.3 Olive oil extraction During harvest, the olives collected are transported daily from the grove to the mill. The most common transport system is a tractor with a trailer. However, other means (cars with cabin) are also used to transport harvesting crews and equipment to the olive grove, as well as olives to the oil mill.
• Traditional or Extensive. Some of these cultivation systems known as ’traditional’, are lowdensity production systems and can receive low inputs of labour and materials. They are characterised by many structural limiting factors such as land slope, old and big-size olive trees scattered or grown at low-density plantation, unfertile soils, fragmentation of the properties, low rainfall and no water availability for irrigation. They show low productivity and an accentuated alternate bearing behaviour (yield once every two years), and usually close the farm balance with a significant economic loss. • Semi-intensive. Other olive cultivation systems show the above described traditional features but they are subjected to a more intensive horticultural management (use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides for pest control; weed control by tillage or herbicides; irrigation; mechanised or semi-mechanised harvest; increase of number of plants per hectare by planting young olive trees among the old ones). • Super-intensive systems are characterised by intensive and super-intensive agronomical interventions (high density plantation – from 300 up to 2500 tree ha-1 - located on flat areas; use of non-vigorous olive cultivars; use of high input of fertilisers and pesticides, and huge irrigation volumes; mechanisation of harvest and pruning practices) and they can be really effective with respect to plant productivity. Olive tree crops have an important climate change mitigation potential, since as permanent crops they provide carbon storage in soils (Sofo, Xiloyannis, et al., 2006). In addition, the use of olive groves residues such as the use of olive pit in biomass boilers as fossil fuel replacement provide additional reductions in GHG emissions
Once the olives arrive at the mill, it is necessary to prepare the olives and remove the remains of leaves, branches, mud, etc. that may be brought from the field. For this, a blow air pressure is applied to the olives, in which the olives, the remains of branches and leaves are separated. Subsequently, the leaves and foreign materials are removed, and olives are washed when necessary. To obtain the oil, olives are milled with double screen and speed reducer without heating the dough. In the batter, the olive paste is removed slowly and in a continuous manner in stainless steel (mixers) semi-cylindrical or hemispherical shape, bearing a suitable heating.
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Horizontal centrifuge (decanter) allowing solid / liquid separation is a cylinder-conical drum that is rotatable from 3,000 to 4,000 revolutions per minute and has inside a hollow body, similar to helical projection. Thanks to a slight difference between the rotational speed of the drum and the worm screw (faster), the pomace leaves one end of the centrifuge and the oil and water on the opposite. This is the modern system of extraction named like “two phases” (Figure 6), and it is implanted in Spain since season 1993/92 and since 2000 in Greece. In a three phase system, that is common in Italy, three phases, including virgin olive oil, pomace and water, are extracted during the centrifugation (Figure 7). The quality of the olive oil extracted is determined based on the chemical and organoleptical characteristics of the olive oil. In the case, the virgin olive oil is classified as lampante, “virgin” or “extra virgin olive oil”, the oil is bottled without further treatement. In the case, that the olive oil classified as lampante olive oil, it needs to be refined before it is suitable for human consumption, an then is blended with a fraction of virgin olive oil an extravirgin olive oil, to obtain the “Refined olive oil”.
Figure 6 Olive oil extraction by 2 phases system
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Figure 7 Olive oil extraction by 3 phases system
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Pomace (wet or dry depending of the method) is the by-product of olives after virgin olive oil is extracted. The pomace is transported to a pomace factory, an in these factories, the wet pomace is dryed and centrifugated to separate crude pomace olive oil, dry pomace and water (Figure 8). Hexane is used to extract crude pomace olive oil. Crude pomace olive oil is futher refined before it is suitable for human consumption, an the is blended with fractions of virgin olive oil and extra virgin olive oil to obtain the “Refined pomace olive oil” . Dry pomace is generally used for energy generation.
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Figure 8 Pomace olive oil extraction
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3.3 System boundaries and system boundary diagram The system boundaries of the study include the processes from cradle-to-grave, including production of raw materials, olive production, olive oil mill operations, olive oil packaging, distribution, use phase and end of life (Figure 9).
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Figure 9. The system boundaries are “cradle-to-grave”, starting from extraction of resources from nature and ending to waste treatment.
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Upstream processes (background system) include the following:
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production of inputs for olive production, such as fertilisers, pesticides, energy and other materials production of inputs for olive oil processing production of inputs for packaging
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Core processes (foreground system) include the following:
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Olive production
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Operations for the transformation of land use, if olives trees were planted for less than 20
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years ago.
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-
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As olive oil plantations in Europe are generally established more than 20 years ago, the impacts related to land use change were not included in the screening study.
Operations for the establishment of the olive grove including the irrigation system, if olive trees were planted less than 20 years ago.
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519
-
As olive oil plantations in Europe are generally established more than 20 years ago,
520
the impacts related to establishment of the olive grow were not included in the
521
screening study.
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The production of olive fruit from the cradle to gate, including:
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-
Production and use of inputs used, such as fertilisers and plant protection products
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-
Production and use of fuels for the farm operations and transportation
525
-
Waste management (pruning waste, used packaging, etc.)
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-
Wood use as by-product of renovation pruning or end of life of olive trees
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-
Extraction and use of water
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-
Auxiliary materials for harvesting (nets, crates, detergents etc.)
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-
Biogenic carbon flows (including olive fruit)
530
Processing phase
531
Cleaning and possible washing of olive fruit, removal of leaves and foreign materials
532
Extraction, i.e. crushing of olive fruit, centrifugation and separation of virgin olive oil
533
from solids and water soluble material, including the use of water (if applicable) and
534
filtering (if applicable)
535
Refining process
536
Pomace oil extraction process
537
Management of waste or by-products (mainly pomace)
538
Storage of olive oil
539
Waste treatment of waste generated during manufacturing
540
Water use
541
Bottling and Packaging
542
Transportation of packaging & raw materials and energy wares to the bottling plant
543
Transportation of olive oil to the packaging unit
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Packaging of olive oil (materials of packaging)
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Internal transportation
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Downstream processes (background system) include the following:
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Distribution
549
550
Transportation from final production/storage site to an average distribution platform, if applicable. 22
551 552
Transportation to retailer, if applicable
Use phase
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The use phase senarios considered include use of olive oil as salad dressing, use for
554
cooking (e.g. shallow frying or addition to pasta dishes) and use for deep-frying. The
555
energy requirement for cooking and deep-frying were included. The impact of washing
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dishes was not included due to the fact that the impact is independent of the use phase
557
scenario or type of olive oil used. For the same reason, the consumer transport to the
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store was excluded.
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The end-of-life
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The packaging of the olive oil. Olive oil is packed in several types of materials like glass,
561
aluminium, steel cans and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). All these types of material
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can be either reused, recycled, incinerated or land filled.
563
Waste olive oil used for deep-frying
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Biogenic carbon emissions
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The biogenic carbon absorbed by the olive fruit are included in the assessment. The biogenic carbon is released back to the environment when olive oil is consumed, during waste management, energy generation or cooking of olive oil.
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Transportation
570
Transportation occurs in and between various life cycle stages in the life cycle of olive oil:
571 572
The harvested olives are transported to processing.
573
There is inbound distribution of raw materials to olive orchard and mill.
574
There is inbound distribution of packaging materials to the mill.
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There is inbound distribution of auxiliary materials to the olive orchard and mill.
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The packed olive oil is distributed to the user.
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The packaging material is transported after collection to be reused, recycled or discarded to
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waste-treatment.
579 580 581
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3.4 Exclusions The following processes were excluded:
Transportation of workers to the olive groves. The inclusion of this will be tested in the supporting studies. Transportation of olive oil to the botling plant. This was excluded because most commonly the olive oil mill and bottling plant are together. However, in some minor cases olive oil may transported to separate blending and bottling plants. Therefore, this aspect is assessed in the sensitivity analysis.
3.5 Assumptions and value judgments The following assumptions are made for the screening study:
593 594
Use phase scenario
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It is assumed that 55% of all olive oil produced is used as salad dressing, 38% for cooking (excluding deep-frying) and 7% for deep-frying. For deep-frying it is assumed that the oil is cooked 10 minutes in 180°C, whereas for normal cooking it is assumed that the oil is cooked for 10 minutes in 100°C .
598
End of life
599 600
It is assumed that waste oil is generated only from deep-frying, whereas in other use scenarios it is assumed that no waste is generated, as all olive oil is consumed.
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3.6 Information about the data used and data gaps The data quality scoring was based on the criteria presented in Table 5. The average overall data quality score is 2.9, which means fair data quality. The detailed breakdown of the data quality scoring is presented in Table 6.
605
24
Very Good -1-
Good -2-
Average technology corresponding to European average
Average technology representative of Spain, Italy and Greece
Valid for European region
Spain, Italy and Greece
2012-2015
2010-2011
Very good completeness (≥90%)
Good completeness (80% to 90%)
METHO DOLOG Y
UNCER TAINTY
COMPL ETENES S
TIME
GEOGR APHY
Table 5 Criteria for data quality scoring
TECHN OLOGY
606
Very low uncertainty (≤10%)
Full compliance with all the requirements of PEF Guide
Low uncertainty (10% to 20%)
Attributional, process based approach and following three method Requirements of the PEF Guide: · Dealing with multifunctionality, · End-of-life modelling, · System boundary Attributional process based approach and the following two method requirements of the PEF Guide are met:
Fair -3-
Specific technology representing the main practice in Spain, Italy or Greece
Spain and italy
2005-2009
Fair completeness (70% to 80%)
Fair uncertainty (20% to 30%)
Poor -4-
Specific technology representing a marginal practice in
Only one of the olive producing countries
2000-2004
Poor completeness (50% to 75%)
High uncertainty (30% to 50%
25
· Dealing with multifunctionality, · End-of-life modelling. However, the following method requirement of the PEF Guide is not met: · System boundary Attributional process based approach AND One of the following three method
any of Spain, Italy and Greece
Very poor -5-
Other or unknown
requirements of the PEF Guide met:
None of the three countries
Before 2000
· Dealing with multifunctionality, · End of life modelling · System boundary Attributional process based approach but none of the following method Requirements Very high uncertainty of the PEF Guide is met: · Dealing with multi(>50%) functionality, · end-of-life modelling, · system boundary
Very poor or unknown completeness (
