A comparison of life cycle assessment (LCA) of Andungsari Arabica coffee processing technologies towards lower environmental impact.

Abstract

Indonesia is the fourth largest coffee producer in the world, with most of the production managed by smallholders. Analyzing the current environmental impacts of coffee production processes and moving the sector towards lower impact systems, including options for industrial ecology (IE) is critical. The aim of IE for Sustainable Coffee Production (SCP) is primarily toward Zero Waste (ZW), while producing high-quality coffee products that could potentially access new environmentally-oriented markets. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied in this study to evaluate the environmental impacts of coffee production, from the farm through to various coffee products, focusing on Global Warming Potential (GWP). Data was obtained from a pilot plant operation at Andungsari Coffee Group – Bondowoso, Indonesia, for coffee production using Semi-wash (SW) and Full-wash (FW) processes, from Coffee Cherry Beans (CB) to Green Beans (GB), and Coffee Powder (CP). The novelty of this work was the assessment of the impact of SW and FW, which are not often distinguished by previous studies, and which offer possibilities for improving the grade of coffee products. Observation and experimental data were used to obtain data from production operations to identify the environmental impact and also the potential feedstocks for the production of biogas and other industrial ecology strategies for developing by-products. For both SW and FW the input of 3 tonnes of CB produced 512 kg CP. The LCA indicated that the GWP for 1 kg CP (CB to CP) from SW was 0.765 kg CO2-eq, and for FW was 0.741 kg CO2-eq. In the future, further consideration of alternative by-products will be undertaken in order to produce a more effective IE system towards SCP.