European wheat environmental profile

The objective of this study is that of getting an insight into the environmental burden of wheat production and consumption at national level in the EU by taking into account national wheat imports and fertiliser and pesticide use. In order to accomplish such an environmental study a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach is implemented. The method used for this work involves: the statistical analysis of EU wheat production and consumption; the inventory analysis of EU wheat production; and the environmental analysis of wheat consumption of each EU country via LCA. The results highlight differences in the environmental impact of wheat consumption among the EU member nations deriving from the different use of fertilisers and pesticides, climatic conditions, production yields and quantities and origin of the imports needed to cover such national wheat consumptions