Assessing Environmental and Economic Sustainability of Fresh Unpacked, Fresh Packed, and Frozen Carrots in Austria: A Case Study with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Approach

Abstract

(1) Background: LCA is an established method for the systematic analysis of the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle. (2) Methods: The LCA on fresh (un)packed and frozen carrots, with system boundaries from the cradle to supermarket gate and the functional unit of 1 kg of carrots, is applied using openLCA 1.11, Agribalyse v 3.1 and is calculated with EF 3.0. A sensitivity analysis of transport and carrot loss was made. To consider economic sustainability, a cost calculation for transportation and cooled storage is conducted. (3) Results: The impact category of climate change for fresh carrots results in 0.186 kg CO2 eq for unpacked carrots, 0.200 kg CO2 eq for LDPE-packed carrots, and 0.195 kg CO2 eq for PLA-packed carrots. Transportation accounts for the largest impact, with up to 50% resulting from the transportation distance and the use of cooled lorries, followed by post-harvest handling (15–21%) and cultivation (21–22%). PLA-packed carrots save 2.4% of CO2 and 6.0% of fossil energy compared to LDPE-packed carrots. Regional carrots with short transportation distances require only 57% of CO2. Frozen carrots have a threefold higher result of 0.614 kg CO2 eq, resulting mostly from the high amounts of energy required for production and frozen storage. Post-harvest handling contributes to 43% of CO2, followed by supermarket storage (27%) and transport (22%). The transportation costs for frozen carrots are 24% higher than for fresh carrots, and their storage costs are 3.8 times higher at 0.181 EUR/kg. (4) Conclusion: Frozen carrots are more expensive and have a greater environmental impact. Nevertheless, they are relevant for the preservation of agricultural products and year-round availability.