The Use of a Simplified Carbon Footprint Tool for Organic Waste Managers: Pros and Cons

Eliana Mancini, Viviana Negro, Davide Mainero and Andrea Raggi
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Eliana Mancini: Department of Economic Studies, University “G. d’Annunzio”, Viale Pindaro 42, 65127 Pescara, Italy
Viviana Negro: ACEA Pinerolese Industriale S.p.a, Via Vigone 42, 10064 Pinerolo, Italy
Davide Mainero: ACEA Pinerolese Industriale S.p.a, Via Vigone 42, 10064 Pinerolo, Italy
Andrea Raggi: Department of Economic Studies, University “G. d’Annunzio”, Viale Pindaro 42, 65127 Pescara, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: Given that the pressure of climate change action on companies is increasing, it is recommended to measure the improvement of mitigation activities in terms of GHG emissions. This paper aims to highlight the still-open aspects that characterise simplified GHG accounting tools, starting from the outcomes of a case study. This study was performed using a simplified Italian software for the CO 2 eq accounting of composting and anaerobic digestion, two mitigation activities that contribute an important share of global GHG emissions reduction. The tool is based on the life-cycle thinking approach. It has been applied to an Italian company that treats the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. The tool analysis has made it possible to stress several issues that are currently the object of debate in the literature, for example, the trade-off between the flexibility of the software and its user friendliness or the multifunctionality issues and their different interpretations. However, focusing on just one impact category, i.e., climate change, may lead to an incomplete picture of the overall environmental performance of the process analysed. Therefore, this tool could be improved by including other impact categories, such as eutrophication and acidification, which may be affected by the studied activities.

Keywords: environmental assessment; life-cycle thinking; organic waste; climate change; simplified tools (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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