Proposing industrial symbiosis for mass-retail companies: an evaluation through Life Cycle Assessment

The environmetal impacts related to a hypothetical Industrial Symbiosis system in which the food waste (FW) produced by a mass retail company (MRC) is treated in an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in order to produce electricity that may be used into the MRC's stores are assessed through the Life Cycle Assessment. Three main phases are considered: 1) collection (transport of the FW); 2) pre-treatment (unpacking process); and 3) treatment (processing in the AD plant). Global Warming results underscores that the main contribution to the environmental impacts are related to the unpacking processes, followed by the treatment phase, while the lowest contribution is related to the transport of FW from the stores to the plants. The replacement of the conventional electricity used in the MRC's stores with electricity produced from the treatment of FW allows a reduction of the Global Warming impacts for -11,153.4 kg CO2 eq.