Life cycle environmental impacts of cut flowers: A review

There have been many researchers investigating the strategies to optimize the quality and yield of the flower. However, only a small number is concerned with the environmental impacts of cut flowers from the growing facility to the end consumer, and no such review has been documented in the literature. As a result, this study attempts to review the life cycle assessment (LCA) studies for the cut flower to achieve a comprehensive and minimally biased overview. Based on the literature review, there is no consensus on which functional unit (FU) is the most suitable, but a majority of studies use pieces of product (number of stems in the case) as a FU to evaluate the environmental impacts, when post-harvest handling and consumer stages are usually excluded in the system boundary. It is also found that carbon footprint, or global warming potential (GWP) is the primary indicator the researchers focus on, and energy is another important factor. The inconsistencies of LCA parameter selections, together with the various flower species and cultivation methods, challenge the comparisons of environmental performance. Aiming to enhance the environmental sustainability in the industry, it is proposed to advance technology in the greenhouse system, implement integrated nutrient and pest management, introduce the certificate and label for cut flowers, develop sea transport with the refrigerated container, and raise consumer's perception to the environmental impact. Compared with studies of other products, research on LCA of cut flowers is laid behind. There is still a room for improvement in terms of LCA of cut flowers, since the issues such as allocation, waste treatment, and uncertainty analysis have not been explored yet. This review suggests that indicators such as water usage, chemicals, land use, and waste not included in CML methodology are also significant. Besides, analyses focusing on post-harvest handling and consumer stages should be carried out in the future.

Automated summary

There is a lack of research on the environmental impacts of cut flowers from growing facilities to end consumers, and no review has been conducted on this topic. Current studies on life cycle assessment (LCA) of cut flowers show inconsistencies in the choice of functional unit and a focus on carbon footprint and energy consumption. The various flower species and cultivation methods make it challenging to compare environmental performance. To enhance environmental sustainability, suggestions include improving greenhouse technology, implementing integrated nutrient and pest management, introducing certification and labeling for cut flowers, developing sea transport with refrigerated containers, and increasing consumer awareness of environmental impact. There is still room for improvement in LCA of cut flowers, particularly in terms of allocation, waste treatment, and uncertainty analysis.