LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF WINE: FOCUS ON WATER USE IMPACT ASSESSMENT

This paper presents and discusses the possibility of using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology as a support instrument in water resources management. Traditionally, water is considered in LCA studies as a transport media for other impact generators and not as an impact category itself (i.e. damaged environmental component). In this context, this study introduces and discusses the possibility of implementing two new impact categories in the life cycle impact assessment phase (LCIA) of LCA to account for the impacts of water consumption and discharge of wastewater flows to subsequent or downstream water uses. These two new indicators, named consumptive water use and degradative water use are implemented into the widely used Eco-Indicator 99 (EI99) LCIA methodology in the resources impact class and are tested in a LCA case study from a wine making industry. This research approaches the wine life cycle, since its production contributes to a variety of environmental impacts due to the high demand of water and energy. The LCIA was performed using the classic Eco-Indicator 99 methodology and the updated methodology using the two new impact categories. The results have shown that the production phase in the wine life cycle generated the highest impacts, although the impact profiles are different for the two methodologies. Also, by using the classic EI99 methodology it is difficult to identify, quantify and analyze the water related impacts, while the proposed new methodology allows for an in-depth analysis of water related impacts, in terms of water consumption and wastewater discharges.