LCI Preliminary Results in the Sicilian durum wheat pasta chain production

Pasta is still the most characteristic Italian food and, in fact, it is always present in the Mediterranean diet. This study points out the preliminary results obtained through the application of the Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (LCI) on the dried pasta production. It has been analyzed the main environmental impacts caused by a small farm industry situated in Floridia (Sicily) and whose managing staff plays a particular attention on the environment. For this purpose it has been applied the LCI to exploit wisely the available resources, to reduce the power consumption and to limit the environmental impact of the entire production cycle. This approach focuses on a charge of consumption and emissions produced during the LCI by specific impact categories and whose environmental effects are known. Moreover, it has been also quantified (with appropriate characterization methods) the magnitude of the overall contribution due to the process against the concerned effects. It has been defined a suitable functional unity which corresponds to 1 kg package of durum wheat short pasta and it has been examined all the different phases of the productive cycle.