Environmental Analysis of Sustainable Production Practices Applied to Cyclamen and Zonal Geranium

Italian floriculture is facing structural changes. Possible options to maintain competitiveness of the involved companies include promotion of added values, from local production to environmental sustainability. To quantify value and benefits of cleaner production processes and choices, a holistic view is necessary and could be provided by life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Previous studies on ornamental products generally focused on data from one company or a small sample. The aim of this study was a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment of two ornamental species, cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum Mill.) and zonal geranium (Pelargonium × hortorum Bailey), using data from a sample of 20 companies belonging to a floriculture district in the Treviso, Veneto region. We also assessed the potential benefits of the environmental impact of alternative management choices regarding plant protection and reuse of composted waste biomass. Life cycle impact assessment showed higher impact scores for the zonal geranium, mainly as a consequence of greenhouse heating with fossil fuels. This factor, along with higher uniformity of production practices and technological levels of equipment, translated to a lower variability in comparison with cyclamen production, which showed a wider results range, in particular for eutrophication, acidification and human toxicity potential. The application of integrated pest management with cyclamen had significant benefits by reducing acidification and human toxicity, while reducing use of mineral nutrients through amending growing media with compost resulted in a reduction in eutrophication potential. Similar achievable benefits for zonal geranium were not observed because of the dominant contribution of energy inputs.