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Analysis of raw cork production in Portugal and Catalonia using life cycle assessment

  • WOOD AND OTHER RENEWABLE RESOURCES
  • Published:
The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to (1) evaluate the environmental impacts associated with the three types of raw cork produced in Portuguese cork oak woodlands (in Alentejo region) considering two alternative practices for stand establishment (plantation and natural regeneration), (2) compare the environmental impacts of raw cork production in Portuguese cork oak woodlands and in Catalonian cork oak forests, and (3) assess the influence of different allocation criteria for partitioning the environmental impacts between the different types of raw cork produced.

Methods

A cradle-to-gate approach was adopted starting with stand establishment up to cork storage in a field yard. The system boundaries include all management operations undertaken during the following stages: stand establishment, stand tending, cork stripping, and field recovery. The allocation of the environmental impacts to reproduction, second, and virgin cork was based on mass and market price criteria. An alternative allocation approach was simulated by allocating environmental impacts also to the wood produced in the cork oak stands. The impact assessment was performed using the characterization factors recommended by the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD).

Results and discussion

In Portugal, cork produced from naturally regenerated stands has a better environmental performance than cork produced from planted stands, but the differences are smaller than 10 %. Different management models of cork oak stands in Portugal and Catalonia (agro-silvopastoral system and forest system, respectively) originate different impact levels, which tend to be significantly lower in Catalonia. The environmental hot spots in the two regions are also distinct. In Catalonia, they are associated with cleaning, road maintenance, and worker and cork transport. In Portugal, they are fertilization, pruning, and cleaning. The two allocation criteria affect significantly the results obtained for virgin cork in Portugal and for virgin and second cork in Catalonia. Besides, when impacts are also allocated to wood, mass allocation should be avoided as it would not create incentives for a sustainable management of cork oak stands.

Conclusions

The environmental impact from Catalonian cork may be reduced by decreasing mechanized shrub cleaning and road maintenance operations through the introduction of livestock in cork oak forests, and also by a better planning of management operations. For the Portuguese cork, improvements may be achieved by optimizing fertilizer dosage, planting nitrogen-fixing crops and pastures that improve soil quality, avoiding unnecessary operations, improving the efficiency of management operations, and increasing tree density.

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Acknowledgments

This study has been supported by the project “ECOTECH SUDOE—International Network on LCA and Ecodesign for Eco-innovation” (SOE2/P2/E377) funded by the EU Interreg IV B Sudoe Programme and by the project “Cork Carbon Footprint: from Trees to Products” (PTDC/AGR-FOR/4360/2012) funded by Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) through COMPETE—Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER027982) and by FCT (Science and Technology Foundation—Portugal). Thanks are also due to FCT for the postdoctoral fellowship granted to Ana Cláudia Dias (SFRH/BPD/75788/2011) and to the Galician Government for the postdoctoral fellowship granted to Sara González-García (DOG number 62, pages 9405–9410, 1 April 2013). The authors also gratefully acknowledge the group Forest Ecosystem Management under Climate Change (ForChange) of the Forest Research Centre of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (Lisbon), in particular Margarida Tomé, Joana Amaral Paulo, and Sónia Faias, for providing simulation results from the SUBER model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Ana Cláudia Dias, Sara González-García, Martha Demertzi & Luis Arroja

  2. Inèdit Innovació SL, Carretera de Cabrils, km 2 (IRTA), 08348, Cabrils, Spain

    Jesús Boschmonart-Rives

  3. Sostenipra (ICTA-IRTA-Inèdit), Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193, Barcelona, Spain

    Jesús Boschmonart-Rives & Xavier Gabarrell

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Sara González-García

  5. Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Ana Cláudia Dias, Sara González-García, Martha Demertzi & Luis Arroja

  6. Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193, Barcelona, Spain

    Xavier Gabarrell

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  1. Ana Cláudia Dias
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Correspondence to Ana Cláudia Dias.

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Dias, A.C., Boschmonart-Rives, J., González-García, S. et al. Analysis of raw cork production in Portugal and Catalonia using life cycle assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 19, 1985–2000 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-014-0801-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-014-0801-7

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