Stillitano, T.; Spada, E.; Iofrida, N.; Falcone, G.; De Luca, A.I. Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Economy Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspective: State of the Art of Applicative Research. Sustainability2021, 13, 2472.
Stillitano, T.; Spada, E.; Iofrida, N.; Falcone, G.; De Luca, A.I. Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Economy Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspective: State of the Art of Applicative Research. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2472.
Stillitano, T.; Spada, E.; Iofrida, N.; Falcone, G.; De Luca, A.I. Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Economy Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspective: State of the Art of Applicative Research. Sustainability2021, 13, 2472.
Stillitano, T.; Spada, E.; Iofrida, N.; Falcone, G.; De Luca, A.I. Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Economy Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspective: State of the Art of Applicative Research. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2472.
Abstract
This study aims at providing a systematic and critical review on the state-of-the-art of life cycle applications from the circular economy point of view. In particular, the main objective is to un-derstand how researchers adapt life cycle approaches for the measurement of the empirical cir-cular pathways of agri-food systems along the overall lifespan. To perform the literature review, PRISMA protocol was considered to conduct a review by qualitative synthesis. Specifically, an evaluation matrix has been set up to gather and synthesize research evidence, by classifying pa-pers according to several integrated criteria. The literature search was carried out employing scientific databases. Findings evidence that the most common circularity topics are about closed-loop production systems, i.e. nutrient recovery for agricultural purposes, production of renewable energy, valorization of residues and wastes as fertilizers, food waste, and agro-wastes recycling for agriculture. To evaluate the benefits/impacts of CE strategies, Life Cycle Assess-ment (LCA) proved to be the most common methodology applied by authors, as it can help to meet the main CE requirements slowing and closing resource loops.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
