From May, all the producers belonging to the denomination may require the label to the Consortium, which has become promoter of the project, according to the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) method, in collaboration with Sprim Italia
Soave – Starting from next May all companies that produce Soave may decide to put on the back of their labels the “Green Label”, ie the green label which is the result of a project commissioned by the Consortium of Soave and created in collaboration with Sprim Italia, tended to certify the sustainability of the “Soave System”.
Green Label aims, through the use of the scientific and recognized LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) method, to calculate the environmental impact of all phases of the work within the wine industry, from the installation of the vineyard to the companies that produce bottles, from the processing in the wine cellar to the movement of goods, to the final consumer.
There are 18 parameters examined which correspond to specific numerical values: climate change, thinning of the ozone layer, acidification, eutrophication in freshwater, marine eutrophication, human toxicity, photochemical oxidant formation, formation of particulate air pollution, terrestrial ecotoxicity, water ecotoxicity sweet, marine ecotoxicity, ionizing radiation, occupation of agricultural land, urban land occupation, processing of natural soil, water use, use of natural resources (fossil fuels and metals). These 18 parameters are analyzed and divided by the system into three classes of analysis: air, water, soil.
The three values thus obtained are then synthesized through an algorithm that provides a single comprehensive indicator of the degree of sustainability of the production system.
«Today there are many analysis systems of sustainability – the director of the Consortium Aldo Lorenzoni explains. – In this regard, we have chosen to rely on the LCA method because officially recognized at international level. This study condenses graphically in a label a long series of values that individually would communicate nothing to the generic consumer. It is a challenge for the Soave Consortium that aims to spread the intrinsic value of a production system that generates income and quality in the maximum respect for the environment».
The label that manufacturers choose to add on the back of the bottle is a graphical summary which corresponds to an average value, calculated on the basis of data relating to 1,500 vineyards, active on over 2,000 hectares of vineyards. Through an interview, precise and punctual, the company has been asked to draw attention to all those processes that involve the use and transformation of energy: the collected data were then reprocessed through the method by the LCA SPRIM of Italy, a company–partner of the project that has summarized them in a histogram. The first company that has chosen to enter the green label on the back of the bottle was Cantina di Monteforte, soon followed by other companies.
The issue of sustainability has always been dear to Soave and over the years has been given much attention to topics relating to the environment and its protection.
In this regard, the Soave Consortium has obtained in 2006 the certificate of environmental management and the “Eco–friendly” award in 2012, received for the “Soave between identity and sustainability” publication; to these prizes, a number of other projects add, such as E–CO2 which aims to recover carbon dioxide from fermentation, the winner in the Italia Camp competition in 2012.
Now with the LCA method and the Green label (data collection started in 2007), the Consortium adds a new and important piece to the sustainability chapter.
Source: Cs IlSoave
© RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA
04/05/2014
