Application of LCA Methodology to the Production of Strawberry on Substrates with Peat and Sediments from Ports

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to identify the potential environmental impact of dredged sediments used as growing media for food crops. The dredged sediments used came from Livorno port and were previously phytoremediated. For the assay, strawberry plants (Fragaria x ananas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2021-06, Vol.13 (11), p.6323
Main Authors: Legua, Pilar, Hernández, Francisca, Tozzi, Francesca, Martínez-Font, Rafael, Jorquera, David, Jiménez, Caridad Rosique, Giordani, Edgardo, Martínez-Nicolás, Juan José, Melgarejo, Pablo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural production
Crop production
Cultivation
Culture media
Dredging
Environmental impact
Eutrophication
Fruit cultivation
Fruits
Horticulture
Peat
Ports
Quality standards
Risk assessment
Sediments
Strawberries
Substrates
Sustainability
Toxicity
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Summary:The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to identify the potential environmental impact of dredged sediments used as growing media for food crops. The dredged sediments used came from Livorno port and were previously phytoremediated. For the assay, strawberry plants (Fragaria x ananassa Duch vr. ‘San Andreas’) were used. The plants were cultivated on three different substrates (100% peat, 100% dredged sediment and 50% mix peat/sediment) to identify the real impact of the culture media on the growing process. LCA was calculated and analyzed according to ISO 14040:2006 by SimaPro software. ReCipe Midpoint (E) V1.13/Europe Recipe E method was applied. One kilogram of produced strawberry, for each crop media tested, was defined as the functional unit. Eighteen impact categories were selected where Marine Eutrophication (ME), Human Toxicity (HT) and Freshwater Ecotoxicity (FET) were identified as relevant impact categories. The LCA results showed an increase in the environmental impact of strawberry cultivation using 100% sediment against 100% peat, due to the decrease in fruit production caused by the sediment. Nevertheless, the decrease in the environmental impact and the fruit production increase identified when the sediment is used mixed (
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su13116323