Life Cycle Assessment in Agricultural Solutions for Environmental Management System

This report analyzes the benefits and challenges of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in implementing Environmental Management System (EMS) in agriculture. It also provides current agricultural applications of LCA and recommendations for improving environmental impact of farming.

Running Head: ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 1
Student’s name
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Life Cycle Assessment in Agricultural Solutions
University
Date

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 2
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................4
2.0 Life Cycle Assessment............................................................................................................................4
3.0 Current Agricultural Applications of LCA...............................................................................................6
4.0 Environmental Management System Implementation Reasons............................................................7
5.0 Recommendation..................................................................................................................................9
6.0 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................11

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Executive Summary
Environmental Management System (EMS) is a structured approach that is adopted by
companies to assess and maintain the ecological effects of their business activities and to cut the
environmental impacts associated with its daily operation activities. An organization planning to
implement EMS should develop a scheme to be utilized in detection and evaluation of ecological
facet which its control and manages and can influence in its production and other operations.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the schemes used by a company or a business to
implement EMS. LCA is a structured framework for the evaluation of the environmental impacts
of a specific product and service on all stages of the product’s life. LCA analysis guide in an
organization’s decision-making practice as it is used to effectively examine if the planned eco-
friendly innovations are going to be accepted in all life cycle stages of the product. In the
agricultural sector, LCA functions best where integrated with other approaches and should be
adopting in various countries including Australia to improve the environmental impact of
farming.

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1.0 Introduction
Organization’s aspects that can interact with the environment include solid and gas
emissions, consumption of materials, noise emissions and reuse of materials. An organization
planning to implement EMS should develop a scheme to be utilized in detection and evaluation
of environmental facet which its control and manages and can influence in its production and
other operations.
Research Question: Is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) applicable in the implementation
of environmental management system in agriculture?
This report will provide a solution to the above question, by analyzing LCA including its benefits
and challenges and also provide applications where LCA has already been adopted.
2.0 Life Cycle Assessment
. The critical component of Environmental Management system within an organization is
identification and assessment of the organization's products, activities, and services that directly
or indirectly interact with the environment (Lewandowska, 2011). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
is a structured framework for the evaluation of the environmental impacts of a specific product
and service on all stages of the product's life (El Hanandeh, 2014). The advantages of LCA
include the inclusion of quantitative information, standardized methodology, and steps for
verification of data collected.
LCA analysis guide in an organization’s decision-making practice as it is used to
effectively examine if the planned eco-friendly innovations are going to be accepted in all life

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cycle stages of the product. Organizations should implement ecological Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA) as a structure to identify and evaluate the environmental aspects because of its advantages
which outweigh its drawbacks and also more valuable than the alternative methodologies
currently employed. Also, the current LCA method when applied to agriculture and food
production does not assess some aspects such as whether attaining full potential of a resource
does not at the end result in degradation of that resource. To solve the shortcomings of the
current LCA modeling, Life Cycle Assessment in Agriculture should be implemented in
conjunction with other approaches to comprehend other systems such as on-field and off-field.
Therefore Life Cycle Assessment can be applied to effectively implement an Environmental
Management System in Agriculture when collaborated with different approaches.
All the nations around the globe face the problematic issue of maintaining rural
livelihoods through farming while also protecting the environment. Many countries have tried to
curb this degradation but have not fully attained their objectives. Countries including Australia
have deployed the use of incentives to encourage farmers to halt land degradation and improve
management of water resources (Cary & Roberts, 2011). Inappropriate implementation of policy
tools such as small temporary grants meant to encourage farmers to reverse natural resource
degradation has not gained their full potential. Direct funding of land management practices can
then result in effective environmental management outcomes. Insufficient market drivers, as well
as small market benefits to individuals businesses, are some of the difficulties facing the

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adoption of an environmental management system in the agricultural livelihoods of Australian
citizens. Controlling diffuse pollutants excessive emission into the ecosystem is an uphill task
regarding policies in various countries around the globe. Collins et al. (2016) argue that Cost-
effectiveness of farming interventions and inadequate physical evidence associated with specific
farming applications to improved quality of natural resources such as air and water are some of
the reasons the farmers do not implement agricultural interventions meant for environmental
management (Collins, et al., 2016). The ecological impact of farming can be improved by
utilizing Life Cycle Assessment in the identification and evaluation of the environmental aspects
of agriculture that impact the ecology.
3.0 Current Agricultural Applications of LCA
Currently, various agricultural related organizations have already employed LCA in the
Environmental Management system. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been utilized by multiple
companies including Coca-cola and Nestle in its Environmental Management System
implementation. LCA faces particular challenges when applied to food products such as risk-
related to the product cannot be elaborated by LCA (Notarnicola, Sala, Anton, McLaren,
Saouter, & Sonesson, 2016). Also, Life Cycle Assessment schemes have been applied in
managing olive oil industry waste. The olive oil producing industry releases solid and water
waste which are highly polluting the environment. Waste from this industry can be utilized for
other purposes. El Handdeh (2014) points out that the best alternative of converting the olive oil

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industry waste into eco-friendly output is manufacturing the pellets used in home water heating
(El Hanandeh, 2014).
Phosphorous is of vital importance in animals and plants development as well as in
industrial manufacture but also the concentration of phosphorous above 0.002mg/L in aqueous
medium results in eutrophication which impacts negatively on aquatic creatures and water
quality (Nguyen, et al., 2014). To curb phosphorous pollution and depletion, Agricultural
Waste/by-products (AWBs) because of its properties can be employed to act as phosphorus
biosorbents. Nguyen et al. (2004), explains the various methods such as activation and
cationization used in the modification of AWBs to produce better phosphorous biosorbents.
(Nguyen, et al., 2014). The recent methods of modification of AWBs as phosphorous biosorbents
display drawbacks including limited recyclability and modified chemicals adverse effects.
Waste/by-products act as phosphorous biosorbents which employ Life Cycle Assessment, and
since Phosphorous is vital in agriculture, then life cycle assessment can be used to implement
Environmental Management System in Agriculture.
4.0 Environmental Management System Implementation Reasons
A company can implement an environmental management system due to internal factors
or external factors. Internal factors include financial benefits, increasing operational efficiency
and waste reduction while external factors include the organization's image, demands, and client-

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related advantages. Also, institutional pressures can force companies to adopt environmental
management strategies. According to Daddi et al. (2016), in their study, institutional pressures
favor an effective environmental policy basing on the various organizations’ facets such as
innovation capabilities, reputation and market competitiveness (Daddi, Testa, Frey, & Iraldo,
2016). If an organization is not adequately motivated to implement environmental Management
strategies but executes it because of coercive isomorphism, then EMS will not attain the full
potential of it set fundamental objectives. The different kind of pressures impacts the various
organizations’ facets such as innovation, competitiveness, and reputation in different ways.
Mimetic and coercive forces that pressure a company to implement EMS portray positive results
in competitiveness as well as a result in positive reputation. There is no direct correlation
between coercive isomorphism and reputation. Therefore, for a company to fully harness the full
benefits of the Environmental Management System, then they should implement EMS on a
voluntary basis or on a need to attain specific layout objectives.
Industries have sort to implement environmental strategies and certifications to improve
their production while maximizing environmental performance and also maximizing their market
and economic performance. Oliveira et al. (2017) elaborate on how cleaner production practices
can be adapted to meet ISO 14001 requirements (Oliveira, Silva, Guardia, Gambi, Oliveira, &
Ometto, 2017). Cleaner production practices include technological modification, internal
cycling, waste in processes minimization, inputs and source raw materials reduction and raw

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materials substitution. Most of the CP practices meet the ISO 14001 requirements; therefore, the
industries that implement CP have the primary objective of attaining the ISO 14001 standards.
ISO 14001 requirements of internal audit and control of environmental records are not meet by
CP. Inputs recycling and internal recycling during production practices are the most adopted
cleaner production practices by most companies. The adoption of these practices can be
attributed to high economic recovery potential as well as avoidance of final waste disposal which
then results in minimized environmental impacts.
5.0 Recommendation
When the current LCA modeling is adopted in y Environmental Assessment System in
Agriculture, it should be implemented in conjunction with other approaches to cover all the
sections. The organizations’ detection and evaluation schemes for environmental impact
operations should be undertaken frequently to adapt to its ever-changing business environment
where the business operates.
6.0 Conclusion
LCA analysis guide in an organization’s decision-making practice as it is used to
effectively examine if the planned eco-friendly innovations are going to be accepted in all life
cycle stages. In the agricultural sector, LCA functions best where integrated with other
approaches and should be adopting in various countries including Australia to improve the

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environmental impact of farming. Life Cycle Assessment has been adopted in multiple
industries. A company can harness the full benefits of EMS if it implements the system
voluntarily guided by its objectives and not due to institutional pressures.

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References
Cary, J., & Roberts, A. (2011). The limitations of environmental management systems in
Australian agriculture. Journal of Environmental Management, 92 (2011), 878-885.
Collins, A., Zhang, Y., Winter, M., Inman, A., Jones, J., Johnes, P., et al. (2016). Tackling
agricultural diffuse pollution: What might uptake of farmer-preferred measures deliver
for emissions to water and air? Science of the Total Environment, 547, 269-281.
Daddi, T., Testa, F., Frey, M., & Iraldo, F. (2016). Exploring the link between institutional
pressures and environmental management systems effectiveness: An empirical study.
Journal of Environmental Management, 183 (2016), 647-656.
El Hanandeh, A. (2014). Energy recovery alternatives for the sustainable management of olive
oil industry waste in Australia: life cycle assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 91
(2015), 78-88.
Leung, D., & Yang, Y. (2011). Wind energy development and its environmental impact: A
review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16 (2012), 1031-1039.
Lewandowska, A. (2011). Environmental life cycle assessment as a tool for identification and
evaluation of environmental aspects in environmental management systems (EMS) part
1: methodology. Int J Life Cycle Assess, 16, 178-186.
Nguyen, T., Ngo, H., Guo, W., Zhang, J., Liang, S., Lee, D., et al. (2014). Modification of
agricultural waste/by-products for enhanced phosphate removal and recovery: Potential
and obstacles. Bioresource Technology, 169 (2014), 750-762.

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Notarnicola, B., Sala, S., Anton, A., McLaren, S., Saouter, E., & Sonesson, U. (2016). The role
of life cycle assessment in supporting sustainable agri-food systems: A review of the
challenges. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, 399-409.
Oliveira, J., Silva, D., Guardia, M., Gambi, L., Oliveira, O., & Ometto, A. (2017). How can
Cleaner Production practices contribute to meet ISO14001 requirements? Critical
analysis from a survey with industrial companies. Clean Techn Environ Policy, 19,
1761-1774.