Life cycle assessment (cradle-to-gate) of bacterial cellulose production

Abstract

In a world, increasingly conscious of environmental issues, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an important tool for estimating the environmental impact of processes and products. This work aims to determine the possible environmental impacts of the production of bacterial cellulose intended to be used as a food additive. For this, the LCA (cradle-to-gate) was simulated with GaBi Software, using ReCiPe 2016 method. Results show that the production of materials was responsible for the major part of the input and output flows (in kg). Wastewater treatment, materials production and cooling and heating agents production are responsible for major impacts in several impact categories.