SUPPLY CHAINS IN THE CONTEXT OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

Production and consumption of many products are subjected to a thorough study of their evident impact on local ecosystems and global warming, with the purpose of reduction their emissions, finding product and process alternatives and/or their total suspension or penalization. The procedure for assessing these impacts through a different length of the supply chains is known as product life cycle assessment (PLCA). PLCA is the basis for the study of environmental damage and the costs of their prevention and compensation. Putting priority on the issue of environmental protection, PLCA and Environment life cycle costs assessment (ELCCA) concepts leave aside problem of development, especially for the less developed areas. Given the fact that the production and consumption of products in a single life cycle must contribute at least declarative social equality of participants in the PLCA, the concept of social life cycle assessment was offered. Starting from the fact that sustainable development involves both generating and maintaining a certain level of material well-being, environmental protection and adequate supplies of natural resources and social equity, the concept of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) was proposed.

The formal supply chains that are created in the product life cycles are still looking for total and partial optimality, mainly through the analysis of economic criteria which may be in conflict with the concept of LCSA.

The paper analyzes LCSA of pork meat in Croatia based on cradle-to-grave approach. Based on data of production, import, export and consumption of pork meat in a given period, and also findings in previous research about emission and functional unit (kg CO2 equivalent/kg pork consumed), a simple PLCA, ELCCA and LCSA were conducted. The imbalance in the supply chain was confirmed showing questionable sustainability of pork meat life cycle in Croatia. The results can be the basis for future comprehensive LCSA and research of entire meat sector as well as to create a framework for development policy of meat sector in Croatia.

Key words: product life cycle, environmental costs and sustainability assessment, supply chain, pork meat, Croatia