Environmental advantages of green-labelled navel oranges in China: A supply chain perspective

Abstract

Quantifying the environmental performance (EP) of citrus supply chains (SCs) via life cycle assessment is important for optimising fruit production for sufficient vitamin and micronutrient provision at lower environmental costs. As a part of national programme in China, green-labelled navel oranges use up to 50.0 ​% less chemical nitrogen fertilisers and become increasingly popular for their high quality. However, their EP remain unclear from the full SC perspective, and critical indicators, e.g. ecotoxicity and land occupation potential (LOP), have been mostly neglected in previous studies. Based on interviews with orange SC (OSC) stakeholders, this study analyses eleven ReCiPe2016 (H) midpoint indicators and normalises characterised results, followed by Monte Carlo simulation, to compare the EP of conventional, green-labelled, and organic-labelled OSCs from production to consumption. Green-labelled OSCs show lower impacts across most categories. Specifically, they reduce the LOP by 72.6 ​% compared with organic-labelled OSCs and decrease the ozone depletion potential by 65.5 ​% relative to conventional OSCs. Their total environmental index is 31.4 ​% and 24.5 ​% lower than conventional and organic-labelled OSCs, respectively. Packaging, transport, and production are significant contributing stages. Key contributing inputs include nitrogen fertiliser, corrugated boxes, long-distance transport, and land use. Beyond well-recognised fossil fuel potential, terrestrial ecotoxicity potential and LOP are newly identified critical indicators for OSC evaluation. Thus, green-labelled OSCs represent a more environment-friendly model for high-yield and high-quality fruit supply. This multi-stage and multi-indicator approach offers a transferable framework for comprehensive evaluation and optimisation of fruit SCs towards sustainable fruit provision and environment management.