Tomato puree in the Mediterranean region: An environmental Life Cycle Assessment, based upon data surveyed at the supply chain level

Tomato supply chain as all other agricultural systems is responsible of a set of environmental impacts, in every composing phase: from cultivation, through processing and distribution, to consumption. Assessing and improving those impacts with a life cycle approach would enable enhancing the related sustainability and management quality issues, and could be done using valid methodologies like Life Cycle Assessment. In this context, this study investigates production of tomato puree in Apulia (Italy), to highlight environmental hotspots and potential improvements. From the study – and in line with previously published literature - it emerged that jar production is the major contributor to the environmental damage associated with the whole supply chain, followed by the agricultural phase. These are, so, the critical parts of the investigated supply chain requiring priority in the identification and implementation of improvement solutions. The latter could be developed through optimisation of soil management, fertilisation and irrigation, as well as of identification of alternative packaging materials, so reducing the environmental impact/damage associated overall with the supply chain investigated. These and related aspects will be the object of a further researches that the authors will conduct as the future perspectives of this study.