Agrifood: Reducing the environmental impact of the agri-food supply chain with Eu project PEFMED

Over 200 companies from six European countries involved in initiatives aiming at reducing the environmental footprint of six consumer goods (olive oil, wine, bottled water, animal feed, cured meats and cheese). But also technologies, solutions and over 60 good practices for the sector, available on the dedicated website pefmed-wiki.eu.

These are the results of the European project PEFMED[1] -coordinated by ENEA and funded with approximately 2 million euro by the European Commission- which involved the major agro-industrial federations of Italy, Greece, France, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. In addition to ENEA, in Italy the Ministry of the Environment and Federalimentare also participated.

In order to identify environmental critical issues and promote manufacturing of low environmental impact products in the European market, a common method for assessing the environmental footprint of products in their life cycle was tested based on the European approach PEF (Product Environmental Footprint).

A team of researchers, entrepreneurs and experts additionally employed a set of socio-economic indicators relating to human rights, working conditions, health and safety, cultural heritage, governance and socio-economic impacts on the territory, with the purpose of drawing a sustainable business plan for each company, “a real eco-innovation and marketing strategy capable of identifying areas of intervention and technological and management solutions, reducing both environmental and socio-economic impacts of products and supply chains, taking into consideration territory and economic policy tools available ", Caterina Rinaldi, ENEA researcher and project coordinator, explained.

"The method and tools used in the project have proven to be effective for companies and supply chains and could be used to adequately meet the needs of consumers, especially if associated with a certification scheme, such as the national brand 'Made Green in Italy' by the Ministry of the Environment ", Rinaldi concluded.

"I believe participation in the PEFMED has been decidedly positive on multiple fronts," Ivano Vacondio, President of Federalimentare, pointed out "the Federation, once again, has shown how the food sector is attentive and sensitive to issues of sustainability and environmental declarations of product. As part of the project, a series of Italian and European agri-food companies conducted experiments and tested the application of PEF on some products to assess their potential environmental performance.

"However, there are still areas to be further developed for a credible and successful use of the PEF. Just to name a few: it’s necessary to further develop product category rules ((PEFCR), increase the representativeness of databases and make the PEF feasible even for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). From a communication point of view, information based on the PEF must be voluntary and off-pack ”. Last but not least, I thank the coordination and the team of ENEA researchers who have collaborated excellently with Federalimentare during these years, " the President concluded.

During the final conference of the project PEFMED that took place in Rome, the "Green Poster" awards were also awarded to the best research projects by students and startups standing out for eco-innovation, reduction of environmental footprint and capacity of technology transfer to industry.

The project "Ecodesign for a sustainable packaging for the food sector" by students of the Catholic University of the Sacro Cuore of Piacenza was awarded first prize for creating flexible and resealable packaging completely made of polyethylene, therefore recyclable and reusable, with a side band allowing product dosage. Compared to non-recyclable multi-material rigid bottles or beverage cartons, it also stands out for a better product weight / volume ratio.

Second prize went to the project "Strategies of recovery and use of brewing waste: flour from beer spent grain " by students of the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, who have devised a process for the valorisation of waste from the maceration process of barley malt used for brewing (generated in amounts of 20 kg per 100 liters of beer produced). The recovery system by drying allows to obtain a flour rich in proteins and fibers (arabinoxylans and ß-glucans) useful for making snacks and baked products and in the pharmaceutical field, in cosmetics, in pet food, in the paper industry and in the production of pellets.

Third prize went to “Ecoffi: from agricultural residues to aggregates for concrete” by students of the Polytechnic University of Turin, who made samples of concrete enriched with maize and rice straw waste, demonstrating the environmental sustainability of the process, based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), both for the “carbon free” aspect and the higher-than-average share of renewable energy used.

A special mention went to the project "pOsti - xfarm" : a combination of food and technology born from the partnership of two startups that have developed a system of certification and traceability of the agri-food supply chain,  valorising Italian food and wine heritage and implementing the use of technologies in the agri-food sector, with a useful software for crop control with a register of treatments, cadastral maps and a phytosanitary database.

[1] Uptake of the Product Environmental Footprint across the MED agri-food regional productive systems to enhance innovation and market value.