Integrated life cycle assessment with the ReSOLVE framework for environmental impacts mitigation in mushroom growing: The case in Lam Dong province, Vietnam

Abstract

In recent decades, cleaner production has received increasing attention since it can contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including poverty reduction, sustainable consumption and production, and climate change mitigation. This study aims to use the Life Cycle Assessment-ReSOLVE method to find and quantify the main environmental impacts that happen along the production chain. It will also look at how each production stage contributes to these effects and then discuss ways to fix these problems using the circular economy approach and the ReSOLVE framework in the case study. Although this study used a mushroom-growing facility in the Central Highlands of Vietnam as a case study, the approach can be applied to other industries and countries worldwide. The LCA helped identify environmental hotspots, which were areas with significant environmental impact. The data on these hotspots were used to evaluate the ReSOLVE framework to determine appropriate circular practices for improving mushroom cultivation's environmental impacts. The results showed that electricity consumption and plastic baskets are the primary hotspots for environmental impacts, especially greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions while growing shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) were 2.38 kg CO₂e/kg mushroom, of which energy use contributes to 72.87% of the emissions. The evaluation findings obtained from the ReSOLVE framework indicate that the facility is now implementing 17 out of 42 circular practices. The facility significantly prioritizes process optimization, implementing eight practices, and places a strong emphasis on regeneration, implementing five practices. According to the study's findings, practitioners should adopt this approach to support businesses in achieving sustainable development. Practitioners should tailor the circular practices in the ReSOLVE framework to the industry in which they evaluate and implement the suggested circular economy solutions to assess the effectiveness of using both the ReSOLVE framework and CE solutions. Moreover, this study only focused on a mushroom facility as a case study. Consequently, we want to enhance the methodology and extend this approach to other sectors in future research.