Environmental assessment, LCA and A2C circularity monitoring (Draft)

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. D7.6 – Environmental assessment, LCA and A2C circularity monitoring (Draft) March 2023 Authors: Essi Paronen (VTT), Eveliina Hylkilä (VTT), Katri Behm (VTT) Ref. Ares(2023)2353834 - 31/03/2023 A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 2 / 36 Technical references Project Acronym Agro2Circular Project Title TERRITORIAL CIRCULAR SYSTEMIC SOLUTION FOR THE UPCYCLING OF RESIDUES FROM THE AGRIFOOD SECTOR Project Coordinator Fuensanta Monzó CETEC [email protected] Project Duration October 2021 – September 2024 (36 months) Deliverable No. D7.6 Dissemination level* PU Work Package WP7 - A2C systemic solution adoption, replication and scalability Task T7.3 - Environmental assessment, LCA and A2C circularity monitoring Lead beneficiary VTT Contributing beneficiary/ies TECH PARTNERS Due date of deliverable 31 March 2023 Actual submission date 31 March 2023 * PU = Public PP = Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services) RE = Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services) CO = Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services) Document history V Date Comments v0.1 03.03.2023 First draft of document V0.2 15.03.2023 First version sent to review v0.3 23.03.2023 Revised version based on the comments of Maite Ferrando (KVC) and Alejandro Viso (CETEC) v1.0 30.03.2023 First final version, approved by the WP leader and the project coordinator, (will be) submitted to EC. v1.1 First draft based upon first final version v2.0 Second final version, approved by the WP leader and the project coordinator, (will be) submitted to EC. Document Distribution Log Version Date Distributed to v0.1 03.03.2023 KVELOCE A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 3 / 36 v0.2 15.03.2023 Reviewers v0.3 23.03.2023 Reviewers V1.0 30.3.2023 Reviewers and coordinator Verification and approval Name Date Verification Final Draft by WP leader Kveloce 30.03.2023 Approval Final Deliverable by coordinator Fuensanta Monzó 30.03.2023 Disclaimer and acknowledgement This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101036838 Disclaimer This document reflects only the views of the author(s) the European Research Executive Agency (REA) is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. Whilst efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this document, the A2C consortium shall not be liable for any errors or omissions, however caused. A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 4 / 36 Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................. 6 2 Life Cycle Assessment methodology ........................................... 7 2.1 Life Cycle Assessment brief description .......................................................... 7 2.2 Carbon footprint .................................................................................................. 8 3 Plastic chain ................................................................................. 9 3.1 Goal and scope .................................................................................................... 9 3.1.1 Goal and scope of the study ........................................................................... 9 3.1.2 Case presentation .......................................................................................... 9 3.1.3 Calculated scenarios .................................................................................... 11 3.1.4 Functional unit .............................................................................................. 11 3.1.5 Assumptions ................................................................................................. 11 3.1.6 Impact assessment method .......................................................................... 12 3.2 Inventory data .................................................................................................... 12 3.3 Results ............................................................................................................... 13 3.3.1 Commercial pellet ......................................................................................... 13 3.3.2 A2C pellet manufacturing at GWC Plastics .................................................. 14 4 Agri-food chain ........................................................................... 16 4.1 Goal and scope .................................................................................................. 16 4.1.1 Goal .............................................................................................................. 16 4.1.2 Case presentation ........................................................................................ 16 4.1.3 Functional unit .............................................................................................. 19 4.1.4 Calculated scenarios .................................................................................... 19 4.1.5 Assumptions ................................................................................................. 20 4.1.6 Benchmark products .................................................................................... 20 4.1.7 Impact assessment method .......................................................................... 22 4.2 Life Cycle Inventory .......................................................................................... 22 4.3 Results ............................................................................................................... 23 4.3.1 Results for agri-food chain ............................................................................ 23 4.3.2 Allocation scenario results ............................................................................ 26 5 Conclusions ............................................................................... 29 6 References ................................................................................ 30 7 Annexes ..................................................................................... 31 A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 5 / 36 List of abbreviations A2C Agro2Circular CO2 eq. Carbon dioxide equivalent EF Environmental footprint FU Functional unit CFF Circular footprint formula CFP Carbon footprint of a project GHG Greenhouse gas GWP Global warming potential LCA Life cycle assessment LCI Life cycle inventory LCIA Life cycle impact assessment LDPE Low density polyethylene PEF Product environmental footprint A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 6 / 36 1 Introduction The Agro2Circular (A2C) project will develop at laboratory scale new technologies for the upcycling of Fruits & Vegetable agri-food Wastes (F&VW) and non-renewable multilayer plastics into new high added value products with application in the food, nutraceuticals and cosmetic sectors. To verify the environmental sustainability advantages of new technologies such as the ones developed in the A2C project, sustainability assessments such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are needed. LCA as a method makes sure that no life cycle stage is excluded and that environmental burdens do not shift along the value chain or environmental impact categories. This deliverable contains the preliminary estimation of the carbon footprint of two product examples in the A2C plastic (chapter 3) and agri-food chain (chapter 4). The study is a screening in which preliminary data is used to evaluate the carbon footprint. The screening approach is applied because the agri-food chain is at pre-industrial level and because the A2C territorial circular systemic solution in Murcia (hereafter referred to as Murcia demonstrator) is under development. The purpose of the deliverable is to identify already in the pilot technology development stage the main contributors (e.g. process or life cycle stage) to the carbon footprint of the A2C product chains and provide valuable feedback for the technology developers. When the Murcia demonstrator is further developed in the A2C project, a full LCA will be carried out to address the data gaps of this screening LCA. In the full LCA the entire circular life cycle of the A2C concepts is modeled from the parts where data will be available. The use of the Circular Footprint Formula developed by European Commission (European Commission, 2021) will be evaluated to estimate for example the impact of using recycled materials. Additionally, more impact categories such as acidification, eutrophication, resource and water use will be included in the LCA depending on characteristics of the Murcia demonstrator. A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 7 / 36 2 Life Cycle Assessment methodology In this chapter LCA method and carbon footprint calculation are presented. More detailed LCA methodology presentation is available in the Agro2Circular deliverable 7.5 Evaluation framework and methodology. Therefore, in this deliverable the LCA method is described briefly. Because only carbon footprint is calculated in this preliminary LCA, the carbon footprint calculation methodology is presented separately. 2.1 Life Cycle Assessment brief description Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a quantitative method for assessing the potential environmental impacts of a product or a service taking into account each life cycle stage. Typical LCA stages are production of raw materials and energy, manufacturing of the product, all transportations, distribution, use phase, and final disposal of the product or other End of Life treatment. The LCA principles are presented in ISO 14040 and 10444 standards (ISO 14040, 2006; ISO 14044, 2006). Modelling the life cycle of a product is based on interlinked unit processes that are connected to each other with material or energy flows. Each process consists of inputs and outputs, which connect the process to previous and following processes. Besides the ISO Standards, the LCA carried out in the project will also follow the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology developed by the European Commission (European Commission, 2021). The PEF methodology aims to provide a methodology that enables measuring environmental impacts in a common way among LCA practitioners. Life cycle assessment has four stages as shown in Figure 1: goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory (LCI), life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) and interpretation of results. The LCA process is normally iterative, and some phases might need to be revised during the calculation process. Figure 1. The four stages of life cycle assessment according to ISO 14040 (2006). A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 8 / 36 2.2 Carbon footprint The carbon footprint calculation in this LCA follows the ISO 14076 standard Carbon footprint of products (ISO 14067, 2018). The standard provides principles, requirements and guidelines for the quantification and communication of the carbon footprint of products and services. Partial product footprints are also addressed. Carbon footprint calculation is based on life cycle assessment using the single impact category of climate change. The quantification and reporting of a carbon footprint of a product (CFP) in accordance with this technical specification is based on the principles of the LCA (ISO 14040, 2006; ISO 14044, 2006). The goal of a carbon footprint study of a product is to calculate the potential contribution of a product to global warming by calculating all relevant GHG emissions and removals during the product’s life cycle of selected processes taking into account cut-off criteria. The carbon footprint is expressed as CO2eq (carbon dioxide equivalent) which is a unit for comparing the radiative forcing of a GHG to that of carbon dioxide. (ISO 14067, 2018). For each GHG a characterization factor is applied. The applied characterization factors used in this study for most common GHGs are listed in Table 1. It should be noted that the list is not complete, and all the factors are available in the dataset provided by European Commission’s European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment (European Commission, 2019). The factors are according to the EF 3.0 impact assessment method from which the climate change impact category is used. The climate change is calculated using the indicator global warming potential (GWP100) over 100-year time horizon. The GWP100 is expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent. Table 1. Characterization factors of most common greenhouse gases used in EF 3.0 impact assessment method for climate change impact category. The list does not include all the greenhouse gases. (European Commission, 2019). Greenhouse gas Characterization factor in EF 3.0 carbon dioxide, fossil 1 carbon monoxide, fossil 1,57 chloroform 20 dinitrogen monoxide 298 methane, fossil 36,8 methane, non-fossil 34 nitrogen fluoride 1,79 A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 9 / 36 3 Plastic chain The main aim of the A2C plastic chain is to upcycle multi-layer plastic residues from food sector to high added value products. In the A2C project the studied plastic waste streams are agriculture multi-layer disinfection mulch film waste and waste from aseptic bags produced by the food industry. This screening LCA examines only the mulch film waste as raw material of manufacturing a plastic pellet from LDPE. A pellet produced only from recycled plastic is not typically used in the industry as it is. Instead, it is normally blended with virgin plastic. Therefore, the studied product is commercial pellet which is manufactured both from recycled and virgin plastic. In this chapter first the goal and scope of the LCA calculation is defined in chapter 3.1. Chapter 3.2 introduces the data used in the calculation. Finally, the results are presented in chapter 3.3. 3.1 Goal and scope This subchapter includes setting the goal for LCA, description of the calculated case, definition of the functional unit and list of assumptions used in the calculation. 3.1.1 Goal and scope of the study The goal of A2C plastic chain LCA is to evaluate the preliminary carbon footprint of producing 1 kg of commercial LDPE (low density polyethylene) pellet. The main purpose of the study at this point is to provide information for the technology partners in A2C project about the environmental hot spots of the recycled plastic production value chain. The screening LCA compares two commercial pellets: 1. Pellet blend which is 1/3 by weight made of the recycled LDPE and virgin calcium carbonate manufactured in the A2C project (hereafter referred to as A2C pellet) and 2/3 virgin LDPE pellet 2. 100% virgin LDPE pellet The final product was chosen to be a commercial pellet instead of the recycled A2C pellet because a pellet produced only from recycled plastic is not typically used in the industry. Virgin plastic is added to maintain the technical pellet characteristics and performance in use stage in a specific level. A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 16 / 36 calculated per 1 kg of commercial pellet. The results offer a view to see where GWC Plastics could make improvements to reduce the carbon footprint when producing the A2C pellet. ¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia. shows only the carbon footprint of A2C pellet manufactured at GWC Plastics which constitutes 33 % of the commercial pellet’s weight. The values are calculated for the current Spanish electricity profile and future scenario where solely renewable electricity, wind electricity in particular, is applied. Figure 4. Carbon footprint of manufacturing A2C pellet at GWC Plastics per different processes. From ¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia. it can be observed that in scenario 1a, which represents the current A2C pellet production, consuming energy (electricity and petrol) at GWC Plastics comprises 87% of the total carbon footprint of A2C pellet. The energy consumption emissions come mainly from using the Spanish average electricity which represent 98% of the energy emissions. The production of the chemicals (calcium carbonate, CaO and polyacrylamide) cover 5% of the A2C pellet’s emissions. When comparing the scenario 1b to scenario 1a, it can be noted that using wind electricity in the A2C pellet manufacturing could reduce the A2C pellet’s total carbon footprint by 80%. This reduction is explained by the significant impact of the electricity consumption in the A2C pellet’s carbon footprint. A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 17 / 36 4 Agri-food chain The agri-food case is focused on utilizing waste streams from agri-food sector, e.g., apple, broccoli, cauliflower, grape, lemon and artichoke. Agri-food wastes are used for their high value bioactive compounds, to produce new foods, nutraceuticals and cosmetics. At this phase of the project, possibilities of lemon waste are investigated, and in this report the screening LCA for lemon processing is presented. In this chapter first the goal and scope of the LCA calculation is defined in chapter 4.1. Chapter 4.2 introduces the data used in the calculation. Finally, the results are presented in chapter 4.3. 4.1 Goal and scope This subchapter includes setting the goal for LCA, description of the calculated case, definition of the functional unit and list of assumptions used in the calculation. 4.1.1 Goal The goal of A2C agri-food chain LCA is to evaluate the preliminary carbon footprint of producing dehydrated solid and liquid extracts from lemon agri-food waste stream. The main purpose of the study at this point is to provide information for the technology partners in A2C project about the environmental hot spots of the lemon waste streams value chain. The LCA considers 50 kg of lemon residues that are produced into two products, dehydrated solid extract / fiber extract (3,6 kg) and dehydrated liquid extract/ phenolic extract (0,6 kg). Both products are solid and air-dry. This means that also the extract derived from the liquid phase is totally dehydrated extract (moisture contents <1,5%) and its appearance is that of a powder. The screening LCA calculations for extract are performed for two different electricity scenarios, average Spanish electricity mix and 100% renewable electricity. Produced extracts are compared to existing products or compounds, that are used as benchmarks. 4.1.2 Case presentation The used citrus fruit agri-food waste is lemon, that consist of a white and yellow solid with high moisture content, corresponding to peel and pulp. The waste is generated from fruit juice processing and vegetable canning companies, like Citromil. The two main lemon waste types, from different stages are a) peel at the juice extraction (squeezing) stage, and b) pulp at the pulp decrease stage. Lemon production in Spain is around 940.000 tonnes/year, and the region of Murcia accounts for more than 58% of total production. Lemon production generates a waste volume of approximately 50–55% of the processed lemon volume. Hence, in the area of Murcia, 150.000–200.000 tonnes of lemon waste is generated annually. The Citromil company working in the field generated about 4.000–4.500 tonnes/year of pulp and 30.000– 40.000 tonnes/year of peel. Lemons are collected normally all year round, and the waste is constantly available. (A2C Deliverable 1.2.) The agri-food wastes (fruits and vegetables) have high value bioactive compounds (phenolic compounds and dietary fiber), that can be retained through valorization, e.g. green A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 18 / 36 extraction, purification and stabilization. The goal is to achieve high extraction yield and high purity bioactives with high stability for new foods, nutraceuticals and cosmetics. (A2C Deliverable 2.1) The enzymatic extraction and processing of lemon agri-food waste starts from a tank, where enzymes and water are added to the lemon waste. In the tank, the slurry is stirred with electricity and heated with natural gas into smoother mixture. Once the enzymatic extraction of compounds of interest has taken place, the temperature is increased to inactivate the enzymes. Mixture is filtrated, and the solid (~20%) and liquid (~80%) phases are separated. Solid extract, rich in fiber, goes to oven, where the mass is heated and excess water is evaporated. The output product is dehydrated solid extract, called fiber extract. The separated liquid extract, with a higher content of antioxidant and phenolic compounds, goes first into concentration, where liquid is heated, and excess water is condensed. Condensed water goes to wastewater treatment. The concentrated liquid extract proceeds to lyophilization, where it is freeze dried into dehydrated extract, called phenolic extract, which takes the form of powder. The production chain of enzymatic extraction is presented by each process in the Figure 5 below. The figure is an edited version of the process figure provided by CTNC, which is presented inAnnex B Annex B. Figure 5. Production chain of enzymatic extraction. A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 19 / 36 The system boundary shows the stages and processes of the life cycle included and excluded from the assessment. Like in the previously presented plastic LCA, this is a cradleto-gate study which starts from extraction of the raw materials of the lemon extracts and ends at the CTNC gate producing the extracts. Cradle to gate approach was chosen based on the goal and scope of the study, as explained in plastic chain chapter 3.1.2. The goal of the process is to provide information for technology partners to refine the processes, and therefore the user phase is not in the center of interest in the project. Therefore, the whole life cycle of dehydrated extracts are not modelled in this LCA, and user aspect is excluded. The phases of the production chain are used in the LCA modelling and are simplified for Figure 6 below. The system boundaries of the agri-food waste are also presented in Figure 6. Figure 6. System boundaries of the agri-food waste LCA. Direct carbon dioxide emissions are released from using natural gas. Transportations of raw materials, e.g., agri-food and enzymes, to the enzymatic extraction of lemon are excluded. Only transportations already included in the used datasets are considered, from the market values which have average transportations e.g., inside enzyme production. The concentration phase for liquid extract production uses an auxiliary cooling agent, which is cut-off from calculations. The cooling agent is glycol water mixture consisting of 90% water and 10% propylene glycol, total amount being 100 kg. This amount is circulating and can be used for other processes using the same machinery. Glycol water is not part of the product nor in contact with the enzymatic products. A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 20 / 36 4.1.3 Functional unit For the first scenario with the system expansion approach, the functional unit of the agrifood LCA is manufacturing 1. 3,6 kg of dehydrated solid extract / fiber extract 2. 0,6 kg of dehydrated liquid extract / phenolic extract. The generated amount is generated from 50 kg of lemon residues. In the allocation scenario the same functional unit is used, production of 3,6 kg fiber extract and 0,6 kg phenolic extract. To make comparison to the benchmark fiber, the allocated production of fiber extract is also converted for 1 kg of fiber extract produced separately. 4.1.4 Calculated scenarios Since the lemon waste processing has two output products, the concept is considered in two ways (called scenarios). Since there are some processing steps that include both product streams (tank and filtration), the burden from these steps needs to be allocated to both products, if the products want to be considered separately. However, since the ISO 14040-44 (2006) standards recommend to avoid allocation, the first scenario considers the process with both products in the functional unit, i.e. the concept is considered with system expansion and includes both the solid and liquid extract production. For the first scenario (system expansion i.e. both products), two possibilities for the enzymatic extraction’s electricity use are studied: - 1a Spanish average electricity mix for year 2018 - 1b 100% wind electricity from Spain To be able to calculate the carbon footprint for each product separately, scenario 2 is an allocation scenario, based on dry mass allocation. Dry mass allocation is done based on the information given by CTNC, which is presented in Annex B. The dry mass of the solid phase, fiber extract product is calculated to be 75% of the total input of the process. Accordingly, the dry mass of dehydrated liquid phase, phenolic extract is calculated to be 25% of the total dry mass. The total impact of the processes where total mass is processed, i.e. the first phases: tank and filtration, is divided based on these shares (75% and 25%). The total impact of the fiber extract production is therefore 75% of the tank and filtration, and 100% of the oven. Total impact of phenolic extract is 25% of the tank and filtration, and 100% of the concentration and lyophilization. The allocation is done for both electricity scenarios using the same dry mass allocation. Allocation scenario 2a uses the Spanish average electricity mix and 2b the wind electricity. Later in this project, a sensitivity analysis is done for this allocation scenario. Also, if the allocation would be done based on mass of final products (3,6 kg and 0,6 kg), this would give different shares for the products. In the case of mass-based allocation, water would be also included, which is considered insignificant in this process. In the case of economic A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 21 / 36 allocation, the final products’ shares of impacts would be defined by the monetary values of the products. This may be studied in the later stage of the project. 4.1.5 Assumptions The following assumptions are applied in this A2C agri-food LCA: • Dehydrated extracts are manufactured in Spain and for electricity an average Spanish electricity profile or 100% wind power is used in the production. • Lemon production in Spaindataset is used for the modelling of raw material acquisition, which includes the emissions from cultivating lemons. This is assumed to represent an approximate of the climate impacts of also lemon residues. Lemon waste stream could be also regarded as emissions-free and might be excluded later. Other options (e.g. allocation) for the raw material upstream are considered at the later stage of the project. • Transportations of raw materials, enzymes and lemon residues, are not included in the calculations at this point. • The condensed water from concentration phase is managed as wastewater. • The evaporated water from drying the extracts is considered as water to air. • Carbon dioxide emissions from using the natural gas in the tank are calculated based on carbon content and carbon allocation of natural gas, gained from ecoinvent database. Other emissions such as NOx and SOx are not taken into account in this LCA because the aforementioned emissions do not contribute to carbon footprint. • The auxiliary cooling agent, propylene glycol, is cut-off from calculations, when it is circulating in the system and not in contact with the product. 4.1.6 Benchmark products When comparative products are searched for, some general features about the extracts are asked from CTNC, the producer of enzymatic extracts. The solid extracts manufactured from lemon waste streams are regarded as nutritional fibers, and therefore other nutritional fibers available in the industry are considered comparative. Explained by CTNC: “One of the most commonly used soluble fibers is inulin. There are also other fibers that have more water retention capacity, and therefore affect the texture of the final product, e.g. oat fiber, guar gum fiber, pectin and bamboo fiber. On the other hand, there are more traditional insoluble fibers, that are used more for baking, e.g. wheat, rye, oats etc.” (Sofía Martínez (CTNC), personal communication, February 6, 2023.) Therefore, nutritional fibers, primarily LCA results for inulin production, are searched from literature. Comparative product for nutritional fiber, the dehydrated solid extract, is inulin produced from root chicory. Root chicory is defined as an herbaceous plant with a fleshy taproot, and it is the main source of inulin. Inulin is a prebiotic dietary fiber e.g., boosting the growth of beneficial gut bacteria and stimulating the human immune system. In the study of Hingsamer A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 22 / 36 et al. (2022) two new plant breeding technologies (NPBT) are analyzed and compared to commercial inulin production from chicory. One studied scenario aims to optimize inulin yield, and another explores the potential for multipurpose use as yielding inulin and health beneficial terpenes. Three GWP impacts are calculated for one ton of produced inulin. These calculations are also done according to cradle-to-gate approach, which makes the values comparable to this case study. The reference inulin process used in the study (Hingsamer et al. 2022) has an impact of 1,46-1,62 t CO2 eq. The improved inulin process evaluated in the study causes an impact of 1,30-1,44 t CO2 eq. and the multi-product process is calculated to have an impact of 1,26-1,39 t CO2 eq. The data on the background of these LCA calculations is gathered mainly from ecoinvent 3.7.1 database, whereas calculations in this case are based on ecoinvent 3.8 database. An average of the three above-mentioned scenarios is used as a benchmark for nutritional fiber, and it is calculated to be 1,41 t CO2 eq/ t inulin, converting the unit to kg CO2 eq/ kg inulin. (Hingsamer et al. 2022.) According to CTNC, produced dehydrated liquid extract, phenolic extract: “is an extract rich in antioxidant compounds, e.g. polyphenols, flavonoids. At the moment there are no reference product, since there is no detailed information available about the nutritional features of polyphenols or antioxidant capacities. Although on the labelling there can be stated that the product contains antioxidants or polyphenols if you indicate their content in the nutritional values. These types of compounds are used in food supplement, nutraceuticals, etc, for example tocopherols, resveratrol, etc.” (Sofía Martínez (CTNC), personal communication, February 10, 2023.) When searching for a benchmark product, the antioxidant-rich extracts are looked for. Many possible comparative products for phenolic extract are found from literature. These products and extracts all differ from each other and their comparability with the case study (lemon-based phenolic extract) is still uncertain e.g., considering their functionality. Four potential extracts rich in different antioxidants are studied and findings are presented shortly in the Table 5 below. First product is an antioxidant-rich powder extract from beet wastes that is on laboratory scale (Arias et al. 2022). Second one is antioxidant extracted from olive mill wastewater (Kalogerakis et al. 2013). Third one is corn-based starch aerogel which contains vitamin E, also known as α-tocopherol (De Marco et al. 2019). Fourth benchmark is production of C-vitamin (ascorbic acid) antioxidant, whose information is gained from the ecoinvent 3.8 database. Table 5. Potential benchmark products for phenolic extract. Benchmark product: More information: Scale: GWP impact Converted GWP impact [kg CO2 eq./ kg] Source: Antioxidantrich powder extract from beet wastes Ten different scenarios using beet root and leaf residues as inputs and five different extraction techniques. Used reference is pressurized Laboratory 0,06 kg CO2 eq./ 1 g extract 60 Arias et al. 2022 A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 23 / 36 liquid extraction (PLE) on beet leaves, for 1 g. Antioxidants from olive mill wastewater (OMW) Three polyphenolic compounds recovered with liquid-liquid solvent extraction (three different solvents tested). Used reference is hydroxytyrosol extraction (0,247 kg from 1 m3 OMW) with ethyl acetate solvent. Laboratory 13,3 kg CO2 eq. / g hydroxytyrosol 13.300 Kalogerakis et al. 2013 Starch aerogel tablets containing vitamin E Corn-based starch, aerogel preparation using supercritical carbon dioxide impregnation. Used reference the vitamin E (αtocopherol, TOC) amount (15 mg) in a tablet (120 mg). Industrial 2,53 -02 kg CO2 eq. / 15 mg vitamin E 1687 De Marco et al. 2019 C-vitamin, ascorbic acid production Dataset name: “ascorbic acid production”, location RER. LCIA results, EF v3.0. Industrial 2,9093 kg CO2 eq. / kg 2,9093 ecoinvent 3.8 database The GWP impacts of the benchmark products for phenolic extract presented in Table 5 are very different when converted to the same unit. Results for different antioxidant products vary from 2,9 to 13.300 kg of CO2 eq./ kg product. Because of this great variety, one single benchmark cannot be chosen at this point of the project. The functionality of produced lemon waste phenolic extract is not clear, and there are no definitions of what antioxidants could be replaced with the phenolic extract product. The functionality and other features of phenolic extract will be more thoroughly assessed further in the project, to estimate how comparable these benchmarks are to it. The potential of other benchmark products for both fiber and phenolic extract will be studied in the full LCA later in the project, and their suitability will be examined in more detail. 4.1.7 Impact assessment method The results of the A2C agri-food screening LCA are calculated using Environmental Footprint EF3.0 carbon footprint method (European Commission, 2019). The LCA calculations were done with Sulca software developed by VTT, and the flowsheet of Sulca can be seen in Annex C. 4.2 Life Cycle Inventory The data used in the agri-food LCA model is presented in Table 6. The main data is provided by A2C partner CTNC. The data provided is pilot scale. VTT calculated the direct carbon dioxide emission of using the natural gas based on the carbon content of the natural gas. The evaporated water from heating or drying the products (in tank, oven and lyophilization) was calculated based A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 24 / 36 on the mass balance in the process. List of the chosen LCA database ecoinvent processes is available in Annex D in Table 8. Table 6. Used life cycle inventory (LCI) data in the plastic chain screening LCA for A2C pellet manufacturing. Values are calculated per functional unit. INPUTS Name Amount Unit Source agri-food waste (lemon) 50 kg CTNC enzyme 0,005 kg water (boiler feed water) 0,19 m3 water (for extraction) 0,15 m3 electricity 320,4 kWh natural gas 6 m3 OUTPUTS Name Amount Unit Source dehydrated solid extract 3,6 kg CTNC dehydrated liquid extract 0,6 kg condensed water 0,08 m3 carbon dioxide to air 11,13 kg VTT calculation evaporated water 305,8 kg VTT calculation 4.3 Results The results presented in this chapter are preliminary and aim to indicate the early priority technology development needs from carbon footprint point of view for the agri-food chain technologies. The screening LCA results shown in this chapter serve as important feedback to the A2C developers early in the project to detect the preliminary main sources of GHG emissions. The results are calculated for producing the functional unit (FU) of extracts (3,6 kg and 0,6 kg) with two previously presented energy scenarios 1a and 1b. Results for the dry mass allocation are calculated for both energy scenarios (2a &2b). Allocation results are also used for calculating the emissions caused by 1 kg of each extract, and to compare the nutritional fiber extracts to the chosen benchmark fiber. 4.3.1 Results for agri-food chain The results are calculated for the two electricity scenarios (1a: Spanish electricity mix and 1b: Wind electricity), separated by the main processes and the stages of production. The results of the energy scenarios comparing 1a and 1b and separated by the main processes are presented in the Figure 7 below. A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 25 / 36 Figure 7. Carbon footprint of producing 3,6 kg nutritional fiber and 0,6 kg phenolic extract, in two energy scenarios by the main processes. From the Figure 7 above, it can be seen that changing the electricity into 100% renewable cuts the carbon footprint by 77%. This reduction is mainly gained from the energy sectors cut emissions. The remaining emissions caused by energy are the direct emissions caused by the use of natural gas in the tank. Cutting the use of fossil fuels as natural gas would lower the energy emissions even more. The chemicals used in the process, enzymes, are currently not visible in the table, mainly caused by the small quantity used (5 grams per 50 kg lemon residues). The impact of wastewater treatment is minimal in both scenarios. The impact of raw materials, currently calculated with lemon production and marked with striped grey, is now included in the calculations. Lemon production impacts could also be excluded when lemon is not produced for this purpose and is waste steam. The process of producing 3,6 kg of nutritional fiber and 0,6 kg of phenolic extract has many sub-processes, known as the stages of production. The emissions of producing the extracts in two energy scenarios, separated by the stages of production, are presented in the Figure 8 below. A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 32 / 36 7 Annexes Annex A A2C pellet manufacturing steps at GWC Plastics Figure 12. Plastic pre-treatment and preliminary decontamination system implemented by GWC for the disinfection agricultural multilayer film waste (Agro2Circular D3.9). A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 33 / 36 Annex B Enzymatic extraction process at CTNC Figure 13. Enzymatic extraction process flow chart provided by CTNC. A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 34 / 36 Annex C Sulca flowsheet of enzymatic extraction Figure 14. Sulca-model of the lemon waste enzymatic extraction. Colour-codes in the first box for the stages of production, and below for the main processes. A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 35 / 36 Annex D Used ecoinvent processes Table 7. Used Ecoinvent v3.8 processes in the A2C plastic chain screening LCA. Data Name in Ecoinvent Geography Reference flow calcium carbonate calcium carbonate production, precipitated RER calcium carbonate, precipitated [kg] calcium oxide market for quicklime, milled, packed RER quicklime, milled, packed [kg] electricity (average Spanish electricity) market for electricity, medium voltage ES electricity, medium voltage [kWh] electricity from solar panel electricity production, photovoltaic, 3kWp slanted-roof installation, multiSi, panel, mounted ES electricity, low voltage [kWh] petrol market for petrol, low-sulfur Europe without Switzerland petrol, low-sulfur [kg] polyelectrolyte chemical for water treatment market for polyacrylamide GLO polyacrylamide [kg] virgin LDPE polyethylene production, low density, granulate RER polyethylene, low density, granulate [kg] water market for tap water Europe without Switzerland tap water [kg] wind electricity electricity production, wind, >3MW turbine, onshore ES electricity, high voltage [kWh] Table 8. Used Ecoinvent v3.8 processes in the A2C agri-food chain screening LCA. Data Name in Ecoinvent Geography Reference flow agri-food waste (lemon) lemon production ES lemon [kg] enzyme market for enzymes GLO enzymes [kg] water water unspecified electricity (average Spanish electricity) market for electricity, medium voltage ES electricity, medium voltage [kWh] wind electricity electricity production, wind, >3MW turbine, onshore ES electricity, high voltage [kWh] condensed water market for wastewater, average Europe without Switzerland wastewater, average [m3] A2C – Deliverable D7.6v1.0 Page 36 / 36 Annex E Transport distances in the plastic chain Table 9. Transport Data Transport distance (km) Vehicle in Ecoinvent v3.8 calcium carbonate 120 market for transport, freight, lorry 16-32 metric ton, EURO6 calcium oxide 150 mulch film waste 60 petrol 50 plastic sawdust to water treatment 94 polyelectrolyte chemical for water treatment 150 soil waste to treatment 40