Cradle-to-grave carbon footprint of dried organic pasta: assessment and potential mitigation measures

Abstract

Background In several Environmental Product Declarations, the business‐to‐business carbon footprint (CFCDC) of durum wheat semolina dried pasta ranged from 0.57 to 1.72 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) kg−1. In this work, the business‐to‐consumer carbon footprint (CFCG) of 1 kg of dry decorticated organic durum wheat semolina pasta, as packed in 0.5 kg polypropylene bags by a South Italian medium‐sized pasta factory in the years 2016 and 2017, was assessed in compliance with the Publicly Available Specification 2050 standard method.

Results Whereas CFCDC was mostly conditioned by the greenhouse gases emitted throughout durum wheat cultivation (0.67 vs 1.12 kg CO2e kg−1), CFCG was mainly dependent on the use and post‐consume phases (0.68 vs 1.81 kg CO2e kg−1). CFCG was more or less affected by the pasta types and packing formats used, since it varied from +0.3 to +14.8% with respect to the minimum score estimated (1.74 kg CO2e kg−1), which corresponded to long goods packed in 3 kg bags for catering service. Once the main hotspots had been identified, CFCG was stepwise reduced by resorting to a series of mitigation actions.

Conclusion Use of more eco‐sustainable cooking practices, organic durum wheat kernels resulting from less impacting cultivation techniques, and renewable resources to generate the thermal and electric energy needs reduced CFCG by about 58% with respect to the above reference case. Finally, by shifting from road to rail freight transport and shortening the supply logistics of dry pasta and grains, a further 5% reduction in CFCG was achieved. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry