Life cycle assessment of peach transportation considering trade-off between food loss and environmental impact

Purpose We evaluated the environmental impacts of the peach transportation process using life cycle assessment with the damage area ratio as an indicator to assess both food loss and the environmental burden. A hot spot analysis was also conducted to identify the most relevant impact categories and processes in the peach life cycle. Methods The environmental burden of the peach life cycle was assessed by using a mass-based functional unit (kg of undamaged peaches). The environmental impact of the packaging scenario (using plastic packaging and cardboard during transportation) in the peach life cycle was compared with that of the nonpackaging scenario (using cardboard only). Vibration tests for transportation were performed for several transportation distances to determine the damage area ratios. An impact assessment of the characterization and a calculation of single score results were followed by LIME2, and 15 impact categories were investigated. Results and discussion The packaging scenario had lower environmental impacts than the nonpackaging scenario, and the climate change (CC), resource consumption (RC), and urban air pollution (UAP) impacts in the packaging scenario were reduced by up to 94.1% compared with those in the nonpackaging scenario. Packaging decreased food losses related to injury during transportation; in turn, it also mitigated the environmental burden of additional peach cultivation to compensate for food losses. The results of the hot spot analysis indicated that cultivation, package production, peach waste (due to food loss), and transportation from a fruit sorting facility to the wholesale market stage largely formed the life cycle, with the cultivation stage accounting for the largest portion of the cycle (contribution ratios 36.4 to 89.4%). Conclusion This study shows that packaging can potentially reduce the environmental impacts of peach production; notably, using packaging for peaches effectively decreases the environmental burden of the peach life cycle. This finding suggests that considering the trade-offs between food loss and the environmental burden associated with the peach life cycle is important for achieving a sustainable postharvest process for peaches from an environmental perspective.