LCA of an Innovative Shelf Life Extension Technology

Globally one-third to half of all food produced for consumption goes to waste,[1] and fresh fruits and vegetables have the highest food waste rates due to perishability.[2] Many existing solutions that extend produce shelf life, such as refrigeration technologies or single-use plastics, have significant environmental impacts.[3] Apeel Sciences has developed a plant-derived coating for fresh produce that slows the rate of water loss and oxidation, and can keep produce fresh two to three times longer.[4] In October 2019, Apeel completed an LCA study (critical review performed by Quantis[5]) to measure the environmental impacts of incorporating its plant-derived coating into the supply chains for several produce categories. The scope of this study was cradle-to-grave, and the functional unit was 1kg Apeel Produce consumed in a US home. The analysis was conducted in OpenLCA using ecoinvent v3.5 background data and the IMPACT 2002+ LCIA methodology. The results demonstrate that through waste reduction and other supply chain efficiency gains, the lifecycle environmental impacts of Apeel Produce are 6% to 82% lower compared to those of baseline produce consumed in US homes. The presentation will discuss the study methodology and describe how the results can be used to support Apeel’s operations and business practices.

[1] FAO, Global food losses and food waste – Extent, causes and prevention, (Rome, FAO, 2011), 4.

[2] FAO, Global food losses, 7.

[3] S.J. James & C. James, The food cold-chain and climate change, (Food Research International, 43, 2010), 1944-1956.

[4] Apeel website

[5] Quantis website