Product-Oriented Environmental ManagementSystems (POEMS)

Roberta Salomone • Maria Teresa ClasadonteMaria Proto • Andrea RaggiEditors

Product-OrientedEnvironmental ManagementSystems (POEMS)

Improving Sustainability andCompetitiveness in the Agri-FoodChain with Innovative EnvironmentalManagement Tools

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EditorsRoberta SalomoneDepartment SEAMUniversity of MessinaMessinaItaly

Maria Teresa ClasadonteDepartment of Economics and BusinessUniversity of CataniaCataniaItaly

Maria ProtoDepartment of Management

& Information TechnologyUniversity of SalernoFiscianoItaly

Andrea RaggiDepartment of Economic StudiesThe G. d’Annunzio UniversityPescaraItaly

ISBN 978-94-007-6115-5 ISBN 978-94-007-6116-2 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-6116-2Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013936531

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Foreword

Agri-food is one of the most important sectors for the environment, both in apositive (e.g., landscape safeguard and protection) and in a negative sense;therefore, a book addressing how to manage and improve the environmentalaspects of agri-food processes and products in a systematic way, using Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS), is certainly welcome.

Presently in Europe agriculture has a gross added value of € 138 billion, with 13million workers, while 40 % of the European land area is farmed (EUROSTAT2010). The famous EIPRO study (Tukker et al. 2006) by the European Commis-sion estimates that food alone is responsible for 17 % of overall emissions ofgreenhouse gases and uses 28 % of natural resources. Moreover, food wastage inEurope is estimated to be 90 million tonnes per year, corresponding to 180 kg perperson per year (Barilla Centre for Food & Nutrition 2012). Taking into accountthe expected growth of food, fodder, and fibre demand (70 % by 2050), there is anapparent need for an increase by a factor of 4–10 in overall sector efficiency,compared to the present, if we want to achieve absolute decoupling of environ-mental impacts (WBCSD 2010). Indeed, the recent European Road Map forResource Efficiency (European Commission 2011) is setting very ambitious targetsfor agriculture by 2020: 50 % reduction of waste and wastage; conservation ofnatural capital, biodiversity and ecosystem services; reduction of land use andimprovement of soil quality; independence from fossil fuels. These targets requirea sector capable of involving, besides the primary producers (often the weakestring in the value chain), other stakeholders such as customers and consumers,investors, public decision makers, the processing industry, and retailers.

Sustainability issues, with complex problems involving multidisciplinaryissues, regulatory aspects, and empirical knowledge, demand the active partici-pation of all the above-mentioned actors. Therefore, sustainability decision-mak-ing should be supported and informed by scientifically sound quantitativeinformation in order to discern values from facts, and to help a fair attribution ofresponsibility along the supply chain. In that sense, it is now widely recognisedthat life cycle thinking is the only way to support sustainability assessment, whileavoiding the risk of problems shifting among impacts, environmental compart-ments, and life cycle stages. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), as a standardised

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method (ISO 2006 a, b), is well known and widely applied in the food sector forthe environmental assessment of a large variety of products (Notarnicola et al.2012). Companies will have to face the required increase in efficiency by applyingLCA, communication tools like environmental labelling and management tools toguide the organisation and its internal and external stakeholders throughout thewhole dynamic process. This book is a perfect introduction to all these conceptsand contains extensive literature research, which can be used to further investigatethe matter.

A number of international initiatives are presently in progress for the purposesof reaching a broad consensus on a harmonised protocol for LCA studies in thefood sector and for the communication of their results. Particularly important is theEuropean Food Sustainable Consumption and Production Round Table,1 jointlychaired by the European Commission and trade associations. Its goal is theidentification of scientific, reliable, and harmonised methods for the environmentalassessment of food and drinks in their life cycles, named the Envifood protocol.Presently (September 2012), the final draft of the Envifood protocol is almostready for wide public consultation and a testing period.

Certainly, once systems have been evaluated and improved, communication ofenvironmental excellence is a means of gaining value from this effort. IntegratedProduct Policy (European Commission 2003) and, more lately, Sustainable Con-sumption and Production Policy (European Commission 2008) include environ-mental labelling as a means both for communication and for promoting customerbehavioural change. The up-to-date Chap. 8 is a perfect text for introducingcompanies to this topic. Moreover, the guidelines contained in Chap. 9 and thepractical implementation of the guidelines in an Italian company operating in thepasta supply chain, described in Chap. 10, make these texts extremely useful. Wecan read how the companies involved see the optimised procedures developedduring the project as easy to implement and useful to their business needs.

One critical characteristic of the agri-food sector is the widespread presence ofsmall- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In Italy, for example, the averagesize of the 1,620,884 farms is as small as 7.9 hectares, employing on average only2.4 employees (ISTAT 2012). Micro and small enterprises require very specificenvironmental assessment and management tools, able to address efficiently andeffectively the trade-off between sound scientific basis and simplicity of imple-mentation and use. Moreover, a large proportion of food sector enterprises lackprofessional knowledge of environmental issues. This fact, together with the veryhigh number and fast changing nature of products on the shelves of the distributingcompanies, make a simplified approach to LCA a fundamental need, which iseffectively addressed in this book. The approach presented in Chap. 6 on definingthe user’s needs and on quantitatively evaluating how different simplified LCAtools are adapted to those needs is especially interesting. Product-Oriented Envi-ronmental Management Systems (POEMS) are a promising way of solving this

1 http://www.food-scp.eu/

vi Foreword

trade-off, as experienced in the recent past also in other sectors. POEMS, in asimilar way to the traditional environmental management system, has an approachaimed at continuous improvement. Therefore, it does not require the achievementof a high degree of precision and accuracy in the environmental assessment of theproduct. What is important is that the product assessment be able to capture thepresence of possible trade-offs and to identify the key environmental aspects onwhich to focus improvement measures.

The reader will find a thorough explanation of POEMS both in an extensive andfairly complete introduction, as well as in Part V of the book, which is based on theintegration of other tools (Integrated Management System, Life Cycle Assessment,Product Environmental Labelling) thoroughly described in the text.

We very sincerely congratulate the authors for this important work and see thisbook as essential in helping the implementation of an environmental managementtool, POEMS. Both of us highly appreciate the effort made to adapt the conceptualfindings to SMEs, because a great part of our own research work, even performedtogether, has been focused on this type of organisation. The book is a clear stepforward in the literature aimed at helping environmental management operability,as a result of the impressive network of researchers set up for the EMAF project,which will certainly mean continual improvement of POEMS conceptualframework.

Paolo MasoniHead of LCA and Eco-design Laboratory, Bologna, Italy

President of SETAC EuropePresident of Associazione Rete Italiana

di LCA (Italian LCA network)

Pere Fullana i PalmerUNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change

Escola Superior de Comerç InternacionalUniversitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

References

Barilla Center for food and nutrition (2012) Lo spreco alimentare: cause, impatti e proposte.http://www.barillacfn.com/position-paper/pp-spreco-alimentare-cause/. Accessed 28 Sept2012

European Commission (2011) Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe. COM, p 571

European Commission (2008) Sustainable consumption and production and sustainable industrialpolicy action plan. COM

European Commission (2003) Integrated product policy. COM

EUROSTAT (2010) Agricultural statistics: Main results—2008–2009. doi: 10.2785/44845

Foreword vii

ISO (2006a) ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management—life cycle assessment—principlesand framework. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva

ISO (2006b) ISO 14044:2006 Environmental management—life cycle assessment—requirementsand guidelines. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva

ISTAT (2012) 6� Censimento Generale dell’Agricoltura. Risultati definitivi. http://www.censimentoagricoltura.istat.it. Accessed 28 Sept 2012

Notarnicola B, Hayashi K, Curran MA, Huisingh D (2012) Progress in working towards a moresustainable agri-food industry. J Clean Prod 28:1–8. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.02.007

Tukker A, Huppes G, Guinée J, Heijungs R, de Koning A, van Oers L, Suh S, Geerken T, VanHolderbeke M, Jansen B, Nielsen P (2006) Environmental impacts of products (EIPRO).Analysis of the life cycle environmental impacts related to the final consumption of the EU-25. Main Report. European Commission, Joint Research Centre

WBCSD-World business council for sustainable development (2010) Vision 2050—The agendafor business

viii Foreword

Preface

This book is the result of the coordinated work of a research group from fourdifferent Italian University Departments which carried out the Eco-Managementfor Food (EMAF) Project; this research project was conducted during 2010–2012with co-funding from the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research(PRIN 2008 Improving sustainability and competitiveness of the Italian agri-foodchain with innovative environmental management tools No. 2008TXFBY).

The overall objective of the EMAF project was to develop, test, and conse-quently, spread a model of Product-Oriented Environmental Management System(POEMS), specifically tailored to companies operating in the Italian agri-foodsector, aimed at supporting these firms (mainly SMEs) in the introduction oforganisational innovations that allow them to manage and continuously improvethe sustainability and competitiveness of their products/processes. Indeed, theEMAF project was based on increasing awareness of the environmental relevanceof agri-food products and of the related need for companies to meet stakeholders’requirements regarding life-cycle product performance.

The main distinctive characteristic of the proposed POEMS model is itsmodular structure, as it is composed of a collection of management tools that canbe applied, individually (Integrated Management System, Life Cycle Assessment,product environmental labelling guidelines) or as an integration of two or moreelements, on the basis of organisations’ specific requirements and of the objectivesthey aim to reach.

The research work conducted on these tools (combining theoretical andmethodological phases with practical and applied steps) is presented in this bookand the pathway and reasoning followed for carrying out the analysis on each toolcan be summarised as follows:

• Integrated Management System—an Integrated Management System (IMS) isbased on the combination of separate Management Systems (MSs) with the aimof planning, realising, controlling, auditing, and systematically improving arange of company performances to enhance efficiency and competitiveness.Although an IMS is a highly relevant management approach—capable ofgenerating significant benefits, including less bureaucracy and paperwork,combined audits, fewer costs and more efficient management, and use of

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resources—to date there is no international formalised standard for the inte-gration process. Within the EMAF project a priority was to design a method-ology for IMS implementation—the backbone of POEMS—encompassing theQuality Management System (QMS) and Environmental Management System(EMS), addressed to the agri-food sector. A preliminary step in this context wasa literature review of theoretical and empirical studies, focused on differentperspectives, strategies, methodologies, and degree of integration. A model ofIMS, specific to the agri-food sector, was defined: compatibility, similar ter-minology, procedures and documentation, but above all, the common structureof MSs based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, represented themethodological pillars of the proposed integrated approach. Finally, the appli-cation of the model was tested in a pilot company, operating in the tomatoprocessing industry.

• Simplified-Life Cycle Assessment—dissemination and awareness of Life CycleThinking approaches and related methods, such as Life Cycle Assessment(LCA), is crucial among SMEs. LCA requires a large amount of validatedgeneral and sector-specific data. Since their availability and costs can be insu-perable barriers for SMEs, preprocessed data and meta-data, use of standardsand low cost solutions, such as simplified tools, are required.In order to identify a simplified LCA tool, tailored to the needs of SMEs in theagri-food sector, a four-fold approach was adopted. First, a meta-review of LCAcase studies was carried out. Then, another review was performed in order forsimplified LCA tools to be identified, both at a general and at a sector-specificlevel (agri-food sector). Third, a set of criteria was identified, based on which,the most suitable simplified tool for this case was selected. Finally, the sim-plified tool identified was implemented along with a full LCA, in order for itsrobustness to be evaluated.

• Product Environmental Labelling Guidelines—over the past few decadesenvironmental labels and declarations have received greater attention on theinternational scene; this has led to the implementation of a policy which, startingfrom the concept that awareness of environmental problems leads interestedsubjects to a behavioural change, encourages producers to improve the envi-ronmental performance of their products, and stimulates consumers to get out oftheir habit of making purchases.In order to identify the general principles on which environmental labels anddeclarations are based, first a critical review was carried out of the most sig-nificant literature on labels and declarations in all fields of production; then thereview was focused only on those labels and declarations usable in the agri-foodfield, trying to discover the influence they have had on the behaviour of con-sumers and preelaborated data producers. Starting from this accurate review, itwas possible to identify the guidelines which represent an innovative instrumentwhich, through the evaluation of the characteristics and the environmentalimpacts of a product/service, could be a suitable tool for assisting firms in their

x Preface

choice of the most suitable environmental label for their own products. In theend, in order to verify their applicability and functionality, these guidelines weretested on a pilot firm in the pasta production chain.

• Product-Oriented Environmental Management System (POEMS) can be seen asa great opportunity for increased knowledge and competitive advantage forSMEs, but considering that there is still no standard reference, few studies areavailable in literature on POEMS and that SMEs need special guidance adaptedto their size and sector activities, the definition of a POEMS model specificallytailored to SMEs operating in the agri-food sector was the main goal of theEMAF project.Pursuing this goal, a literature review of previous methodological and appli-cative studies of POEMS was performed, in order to identify the most appro-priate methodological solutions for the agri-food industry; the informationgathered allowed the definition of key issues, which were then translated intorequirements for a POEMS model tailored to the needs of SMEs operating in theagri-food sector. Finally, in order to verify the effective functioning of thismodel, its implementation potentiality was tested in pilot companies, operatingin two different agri-food supply chains.

Roberta SalomoneMaria Teresa Clasadonte

Maria ProtoAndrea Raggi

Preface xi

Contents

Part I Background and Concepts

1 Innovative Environmental Management Toolsfor the Agri-Food Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Roberta Salomone, Daniela Rupo and Giuseppe Saija

Part II Integrated Management Systems (IMS)

2 The Integration of Quality Management and EnvironmentalManagement Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Maria Proto, Ornella Malandrino and Stefania Supino

3 A Model of Integrated Management System for Agri-FoodSmall and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Maria Proto, Ornella Malandrino and Stefania Supino

4 The Implementation of Integrated Management Systemin Agri-Food SMEs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Maria Proto, Ornella Malandrino and Stefania Supino

Part III Simplified Life Cycle Assessment (s-LCA)

5 Life Cycle Assessment for the Agri-Food Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105Ioannis Arzoumanidis, Luigia Petti, Andrea Raggiand Alessandra Zamagni

6 A Model of Simplified LCA for Agri-Food SMEs . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Ioannis Arzoumanidis, Alessandra Zamagni, Andrea Raggi,Luigia Petti and Daniele Magazzeni

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7 The Implementation of Simplified LCA in Agri-Food SMEs. . . . . 151Ioannis Arzoumanidis, Luigia Petti, Andrea Raggiand Alessandra Zamagni

Part IV Environmental Labels and Declarations

8 Environmental Labels and Declarationsin the Agri-Food Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177Maria Teresa Clasadonte, Agata Lo Giudice and Agata Matarazzo

9 Guidelines for Environmental Labels in the Agri-Food SMEs . . . 203Maria Teresa Clasadonte, Agata Lo Giudice and Agata Matarazzo

10 The Implementation of the Guidelines for EnvironmentalLabels and Declarations in Agri-Food SMEs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Maria Teresa Clasadonte, Agata Lo Giudice and Agata Matarazzo

Part V Product-Oriented Environmental ManagementSystems (POEMS)

11 Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems:Methodologies and Experiences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257Roberta Salomone, Giuseppe Ioppolo and Giuseppe Saija

12 A Model of Product-Oriented Environmental ManagementSystem for Agri-Food SMEs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285Roberta Salomone, Giuseppe Ioppolo and Giuseppe Saija

13 The Implementation of Product-Oriented EnvironmentalManagement Systems in Agri-Food SMEs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303Roberta Salomone, Giuseppe Ioppolo and Giuseppe Saija

Concluding Remarks and Future Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

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Contributors

Ioannis Arzoumanidis is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Economic Studies,University ‘‘G. d’Annunzio’’, Pescara; his main research topics are Life CycleAssessment and simplification approaches in Life Cycle Assessment.

Maria Teresa Clasadonte is Full Professor of Technology of Productive Cyclesat the Department of Economics and Business, University of Catania; her mainresearch topics are: environmental management systems and certification, AirPollution Control System, human resources management tools, Quality Manage-ment and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Giuseppe Ioppolo is a Researcher in Commodity Science at the Department ofEconomics, Business, Environment and Quantitative Methods, University ofMessina; his main research topics are territorial environmental management andMaterial Flow Assessment.

Agata Lo Giudice got her Ph.D. in Territory Organisation and SustainableDevelopment in Europe at the Department of Economics and Business, Universityof Catania. Currently is a post Doctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Engineering andthe Built Environment, University of Johannesburg; her main research topics areenvironmental management systems, Life Cycle Assessment, and other environ-mental assessment tools.

Daniele Magazzeni is a Research Associate at the Department of Informatics atKing’s College London; his main research topics are in artificial intelligence,formal methods and intelligent information acquisition.

Ornella Malandrino is Associate Professor of Management and Quality Control,Technology and Productive Innovation at the Department of Management &Information Technology, University of Salerno; her main research topics areRenewable Energy Sources (RES) and Quality Management Systems.

Agata Matarazzo is Researcher in Commodity Science at the Department ofEconomics and Business, University of Catania; her main research topics are:Environmental Management System, Air Pollution Control System, human

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resources management tools, Economic and Environmental issues in EnergySystems.

Luigia Petti is Associate Professor of Environmental and Quality Management atthe Department of Economic Studies, University ‘‘G. d’Annunzio’’, Pescara; herresearch topics include methodology and implementation of environmental man-agement tools, such as: Life Cycle Assessment, Social Life Cycle Assessment,Quality Function Deployment, Ecolabelling, POEMS.

Maria Proto is Full Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility and SustainableEnergy Management at the Department of Management & Information Technology,University of Salerno; her main research topics are industrial production, energyconsumption and environmental protection, Quality Management and CorporateSocial Responsibility.

Andrea Raggi is Full Professor of Industrial Ecology and related disciplines atthe Department of Economic Studies, University ‘‘G. d’Annunzio’’, Pescara. Hismain research topics in the framework of environmental management include thedevelopment of environmental quality indices, sustainable production and tech-nologies, environmental and quality management systems and tools (esp. life-cycle-based ones). He is a founder member of the Italian LCA Network and amember of its Steering Committee.

Daniela Rupo is Associate Professor of Financial Accounting and BusinessAdministration at the Department of Economics, Business, Environment andQuantitative Methods, University of Messina; her main research topics are Envi-ronmental Accounting and Reporting, Social Accountability, Intangible Assets andHuman Capital, Integrated Information Systems.

Giuseppe Saija is Full Professor of Quality and Environmental Management atthe Department of Economics, Business, Environment and Quantitative Methods,University of Messina; his main research topics are quality and environmentalmanagement systems, integrated management systems (quality, environment,safety, ethics, etc.), food quality.

Roberta Salomone is Associate Professor of Environmental Management andIndustrial Ecology at the Department of Economics, Business, Environment andQuantitative Methods, University of Messina; her main research topics areindustrial ecology, quality and environmental management systems, Life CycleAssessment (LCA), and other environmental assessment tools, including the studyof potential integration among tools and systems of environmental management.She is member of the Steering Committee of the Italian Academy of CommodityScience and of the Steering Committee of the Italian LCA Network.

Stefania Supino is Associate Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility andTechnology and Productive Innovation at the Department of Management &Information Technology, University of Salerno; her main research topics are

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Quality and Environmental Management Systems and other environmentalassessment tools.

Alessandra Zamagni is a Researcher at the ‘‘LCA and Ecodesign’’ Laboratory ofENEA (Bologna, Italy); her main research topics are Life Cycle Assessment,Social Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA).She is co-chair of the LCA Steering Committee of the SETAC Europe and subjecteditor on LCSA for the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

Contributors xvii