The implementation of simplified LCA in agri-food SMEs

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.