Environmental passport for the Vicenza mountains

Sustainability on the table: successfully concluded
the third-party verification of the studies of agro-food products with reduced environmental impact within the Environmental Passport project of the Vicentina Mountains.

In April 2020, the companies participating in the European project called ENVIRONMENTAL PASSPORT FOR AGRI-FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE VICENTINA MOUNTAINS successfully support the verification of CSQA Certificazioni and obtain the LCA certification for studies on the 7 agri-food products developed within the project.

7 companies in the Montagna Vicentina area, under the guidance of the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Padua, have designed and developed 7 new products with reduced environmental impact, the study of which has been successfully subjected to rigorous third-party verification according to the international standards ISO 14040-44 for life cycle assessment.

The European project "Environmental Passport for the agro-food products of the Vicentina Mountains" intends to favor the planning and marketing of new agri-food products that are more respectful of the environment. The project was conceived by the Environmental Quality Study Center (CESQA) of the Department of Industrial Engineering (DII) of the University of Padua and is financed with funds from the Local Development Program of the LAG Montagna Vicentina.

There are 7 companies involved (Maculan Agricultural Society of Fausto Maculan and Daughters Simple Society, Rigoni di Asiago Srl, Bianchi Group of Panozzo Cesare & C. Simple Society, Pennar Asiago Agricultural Cooperative Society Dairy, Colline di Marostica Agricultural Society srl
Latteria di Soligo Società Agricola Cooperativa, Lunardon Michele) each of which represents a local production and is committed to developing 7 new agri-food products with reduced environmental impact.

The project, which began in October 2018, reached an important milestone in April 2020, when all the companies participating in the project successfully completed the third-party verification of CSQA Certificazioni which recognizes the study path of new products with reduced environmental impact.
The certification, which evaluates compliance with the ISO 14040 and 44 standards for life cycle analysis, refers to the research conducted by CESQA of the DII which had as its objective the analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the production systems in question and the evaluation of possible technological and management solutions to reduce these impacts.

Various solutions have been identified ranging from a format change in the case of the fruit juices of Rigoni di Asiago, to an improvement in the breeding and cultivation methods in the case of the Bianchi Group of Panozzo Cesare & C. Società Semplice, of the Pennar Asiago Dairy Company Agricultural Cooperative, of the Colline di Marostica Agricultural Company srl, of the Soligo Dairy Agricultural Cooperative Company and of Lunardon Michele, up to the selection of new high-resistant vines in the case of Maculan Agricultural Company of Fausto Maculan and Daughters Simple Society.

"The research we have conducted has allowed us to identify solutions for making agro-food products with a reduced footprint" - says Prof. Scipioni, coordinator of the group that conceived the project - "the real value lies in the path taken by the 7 companies that have developed an awareness that will allow new products to be marketed and therefore contribute to more sustainable production and consumption."

The value of research is not limited to the companies involved. The results of the study, which will soon be published on the project website (passaportoambientale.it), will be summarized in a series of guidelines that can also be used by other agri-food companies towards greater environmental sustainability of the products made.

Project Partners
University of Padua – Department of Industrial Engineering
Maculan Agricultural Society of Fausto Maculan and Daughters Simple Society
Rigoni di Asiago Srl
Bianchi Group of Panozzo Cesare & C. Simple Society
Pennar Asiago Dairy Agricultural Cooperative Society
Hills of Marostica Società Agricola srl
Dairy of Soligo Agricultural Cooperative Society
Lunardon Michele

For more information please contact:
University of Padua
Department of Industrial Engineering
Ing. Filippo Aguiari, tel. 0498271611 email: filippo.aguiari@unipd.it
Alessandro Manzardo, tel. 0498275539 email: alessandro.manzardo@unipd.it