Are consumers aware of products’ environmental impacts? Different results between life cycle assessment data and consumers’ opinions: the case study of organic Parmigiano Reggiano and its packaging
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Giulia Borghesi
,
Roberta Stefanini
and
Giuseppe Vignali
Abstract
Companies are paying attention to the reduction of their products’ environmental impact and consumer’s opinion is fundamental to understand which are the market strategies to be undertaken. Consumers are interested in environmental issue, but do they buy products taking scientific data into account? For example, according to literature, consumers believe that the abolition of plastic packaging is the solution to marine litter caused by plastic waste, but researchers and scientists do not agree. In collaboration with an Italian dairy factory, this study carried out a survey to understand what is the eco-friendliest packaging materials according to consumers, taking as a reference the Parmigiano Reggiano. Their opinions were then compared to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results obtained considering the whole cheese life cycle and its packaging. The analysis highlights a big gap between consumers’ thoughts and scientific data and suggests solutions to make citizens aware of real environmental impacts.
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Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
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Research funding: This work was funded by the research project entitled “Analisi di impatto ambientale e studio packaging innovativo per progetto OltreBio – Filiera etica del Parmigiano Reggiano biologico” which is supported by the “Piano OltreBIO – Filiera etica del Parmigiano – Reggiano biologico” – PSR 2014-2020 – Tipo di operazione 16.2.01 “Supporto per progetti pilota e per lo sviluppo di nuovi prodotti, pratiche, processi e tecnologie nel settore agricolo e agroindustriale. Avviso pubblico regionale 2017 – Approccio di sistema”
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Special issue “Selected papers from the International Food Operations & Processing Simulation Workshop – sixth edition”
- Articles
- Data-based prediction of microbial contamination in herbs and identification of optimal harvest parameters
- Are consumers aware of products’ environmental impacts? Different results between life cycle assessment data and consumers’ opinions: the case study of organic Parmigiano Reggiano and its packaging
- Benefits and effectiveness of high pressure processing on cheese: a ricotta case study
- Simulation of different reordering policies for optimizing the inventory of perishable food: an Italian case study
- The vehicle routing problem in the dairy sector: a case study
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Special issue “Selected papers from the International Food Operations & Processing Simulation Workshop – sixth edition”
- Articles
- Data-based prediction of microbial contamination in herbs and identification of optimal harvest parameters
- Are consumers aware of products’ environmental impacts? Different results between life cycle assessment data and consumers’ opinions: the case study of organic Parmigiano Reggiano and its packaging
- Benefits and effectiveness of high pressure processing on cheese: a ricotta case study
- Simulation of different reordering policies for optimizing the inventory of perishable food: an Italian case study
- The vehicle routing problem in the dairy sector: a case study
