Measuring Circularity in Food Supply Chain Using Life Cycle Assessment; Refining Oil from Olive Kernel

Amin Nikkhah; Saeed Firouzi; Keyvan Dadaei; Sam Van Haute

doi:10.3390/foods10030590

Measuring Circularity in Food Supply Chain Using Life Cycle Assessment; Refining Oil from Olive Kernel

Foods. 2021 Mar 11;10(3):590. doi: 10.3390/foods10030590.

Authors

Amin Nikkhah^{1

2}, Saeed Firouzi³, Keyvan Dadaei³, Sam Van Haute^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
² Department of Environmental Technology, Food Technology and Molecular Biotechnology, Ghent University Global Campus, Incheon 21985, Korea.
³ Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht 41476-54919, Iran.

Abstract

Valorization of food waste is a potential strategy toward a circular food supply chain. In this regard, measuring the circularity of food waste valorization systems is highly important to better understand multiple environmental impacts. Therefore, this study investigated the circularity of a food waste valorization system (refining oil from olive kernel) using a life cycle assessment methodology. An inventory of an industrial-based olive kernel oil production system is also provided in this study. The system boundary was the cradle to the factory gate of the production system. The results indicated that natural gas consumption was the highest contributor to most of the investigated impact categories. The global warming potential of one kg of oil produced from olive kernel was calculated to be 1.37 kg CO₂eq. Moreover, the calculated damages of 1 kg oil production from olive kernel to human health, ecosystem quality, and resource depletion were 5.29 × 10^-7 DALY, 0.12 PDF∙m²∙yr., and 24.40 MJ, respectively.

Keywords: circular economy; environmental impact; global warming; valorization of waste.

Grants and funding

01813561/Universiteit Gent