Life Cycle Thinking as a support tool for the circular bioeconomy: a case study in the cosmetics industry

Abstract

The bioeconomy can be defined as an economic model where the fundamental components for materials, chemicals and energy derive from renewable resources. The goal is a sustainable production and an efficient use of resources. The bioeconomy is a strategic sector for Italy as it is worth 10.1% of GDP, with a great growth potential especially in the southern regions.

The bioeconomy becomes circular economy when it enhances the by-products of other production or organic waste by giving them a new life. Today the transition from a linear model to a circular model is needed to replace fossil and abiotic materials. However, a sustainable use of biotic resources is not based only on their renewability, but takes into account the relevant supply chains and defines a model for assessing the environmental impact of the production process in a solid and complete way. The appropriate assessment methodology for this approach is LCA.

In the cosmetics industry, improving and promoting eco-innovation solutions requires effective methods to assess the environmental impacts of products and reduce the shift of burdens between life cycle phases and impact categories. Overall, an ingredient deemed "environmental friendly" (as a natural by-product) could cause worse environmental impacts if assessed in a cradle to grave or cradle to gate perspective. For this reason, it is necessary to use the Life Cycle Thinking approach to ensure that green chemistry options respond to the need to reduce environmental impact in global terms.

Therefore, the LCA methodology is a suitable tool for assessing the real sustainability of a supply chain. LCA can highlight the main impacts and identify where they can be reduced, considering all aspects of the life cycle: production lines, logistics, packaging, distribution, etc.

The case study in question concerns the production of a line of functional ingredients, the Cytofruit® Waters, developed by Roelmi HPC s.r.l., a B2B company specialized in health and personal care. This product is obtained from a by-product of concentrated fruit juice production.

Cytofruit® Waters are active organic waters enriched with trace elements. They are used in skin and body care products for their property of protecting skin cells from environmental stresses.

In particular, the water naturally contained in the fruit, which would be lost during the phase of juice concentration, is collected, purified and made available for cosmetics in place of the drinking water used in the finished products. In this study, the LCA methodology was applied to the energy-environmental performance of the production of this natural water line.

In summary, the life cycle provides for the collection of water deriving from the processing chain of concentrated citrus juice; purification by micro- and ultra-filtration; transportation to the packaging site; shipping to customers.

The LCA assessment shows various ideas and critical issues along the supply chain. Most relevant impacts come from packaging (use of virgin plastic materials), logistics (transport from the juice production plant to the company headquarters and distribution to customers) and energy consumption for the production of aromatic waters in the juice production plant.  Although there is an enhancement of a by-product that replaces the use of drinking water, the production chain still uses a lot of it for different operations.

LCA applied in this context shows that it is necessary not only to evaluate the flows and the circularity of the main ingredient (the by-product) but also to analyze in detail all the phases of the life cycle to determine the true environmental sustainability of the supply chain.

The LCA study was useful for the company to learn more about its supply chain and to assume its environmental responsibility. LCA is strategic to highlight critical issues and improve the supply chain: in this perspective, this preliminary assessment is the basis with which the company can implement sustainability strategies in the various processes. In fact, the study allowed the company to design a new supply chain model that reduces environmental impacts and at the same time costs, reducing packaging and transport phases.

Finally, the Life Cycle Thinking approach can also be used as an incisive communication tool for its stakeholders and customers based on a solid scientific methodology.