Life Cycle Assessment
Renewable and Sustainable
Citrus Oils
Jon Leonard
Renewable Citrus Products Association
Florida Chemical Company
Introduction



Why do we need a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for
Citrus Oils?
 Green movement – Establish Citrus Oils as Green
 Scientific basis for Renewable and Sustainable
 Combat the new wave of ever growing regulations
RCPA has a DRAFT copy of our LCA on Citrus Oils
 Finalized version by end of 2010
 We will discuss the LCA in a few minutes
1st let me address current market conditions and
impact of growing regulations
Current Market Conditions

Citrus Oil prices are …..

Global crop size has been trending downward

Ever-increasing regulations are eroding the
market for Citrus Oils

The erosion has been masked by a decreasing
crop size and other impact factors - economy,
weather, etc.
Market Impact
Regulation
Surge
Regulations
Market Erosion
Zone
Crop Size
Regulation Surge




1962 - Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
Everywhere we look we have regulations
guiding what we can and can’t do
40,697 new laws in 2010 - USA
 4 minutes/law = Entire work year to review
 Plus global regulations
Regulations will continue… and the trend is
clear as demonstrated by this graph
Regulation Surge
AMFA
ARPAA
AJA
ASBCAA
ESAA-AECA
FFRAA
FEAPRA
IRA
NWPAA
CODRA/NMSPAA
FCRPA
MMPAA
120
110
100
Number of Laws
AQ
A
NAWCA
RCRAA
WLDI
APA
SWDA
CERCLA
CZMIA
COWLDA
FWLCA
MPRSAA
CAAA
CWA
SMCRA
SWRCA
SDWAA
90
80
70
50
AQA
FOIA
40
WQA
NWPA
ARPA
BLBA
HMTA
FWPCA
MPRSA
ESA
CZMA
NCA TAPA
FEPCA
PWSA
MMPA
60
EPACT
FFCA
CERFA
CRAA
SDWAA
SARA
MPRSAA
FRRRPA
SOWA
DPA
FCMHSA
WRPA
AFCA
30
TA
FWCA
BPA
20
10
0
RHA
WA
NBRA
IA
AA
NPS
AEPA
MBCA
YA
1870 1880
1890
1900
1910 1920
By permission of John Warner
1930
FHSA
NFMUA
FIFRA PAA
FAWRA
NLRA
WPA
1940
NHPA
WLDA
FWCAA
FWA
AEA
1950
1960
1970
WSRA
EA
RCFHSA
1980
PPA
PPVA
IEREA
ANTPA
GLCPA
ABA
CZARA
WRDA
EDP
OPA
RECA
CAAA
GCRA
GLFWRA
HMTUSA
NEEA
1990
BLRA
ERDDAA
EAWA
NOPPA
PTSA
UMTRCA
ESAA
QGA
NCPA
TSCA
FLPMA
RCRA
NFMA
CZMAA
NEPA
EQIA
CAA
EPA
EEA
OSHA
FAWRAA
NPAA
2000
Regulations Surge
By permission of the Consumer Specialty Products Association
By permission of www.cartoonstock.com
Green Movement

The Green Movement is relentlessly moving
forward
California Green Chemistry Initiative
 NSF Greener Chemicals and Processes Standard
 ACS Green Chemistry Institute Roundtables



Our industry needs to be proactive as Green is
being defined
The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry is a good
starting point
The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Prevention
Atom Economy
Less Hazardous
Chemical Synthesis
Designing Safer
Chemicals
Safer Solvents and
Auxiliaries
Design for Energy
Efficiency
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice
by Paul Anastas and John Warner, 1998
Use of Renewable
Feedstocks
Reduce Derivatives
Catalysis
Design for Degradation
Real-time analysis for
Pollution Prevention
Inherently Safer
Chemistry for Accident
Prevention
The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry
7.

Use of Renewable Feedstocks - A raw
material or Feedstock should be renewable
rather than depleting wherever technically and
economically practical
 Citrus Oils are a Renewable Feedstock
Citrus Oils are Green
Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice
by Paul Anastas and John Warner, 1998
The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry
10.

Design for Degradation - Chemical products
should be designed so that at the end of their
function they do not persist in the environment
and break down into innocuous degradation
products
 Citrus oils were designed by nature
Citrus Oils are Green
Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice
by Paul Anastas and John Warner, 1998
Renewable




A natural resource is a renewable resource if it
is replaced by natural processes at a rate ≥
consumption
Incorporates Sustainable Agriculture
 Economically viable, socially responsible
and ecologically sound
Use and depletion of finite resources is not
renewable
Citrus Oils are Renewable
Renewable Citrus Oils Come from Our
Environment
Without Mining or Drilling
Nature Makes Citrus Oils
with Three Ingredients

The first ingredient is…
The Other Two Ingredients


Water
Carbon Dioxide

Nature uses
photosynthesis…makes
isoprene or C5H8

Nature combines two
isoprene molecules to
make d-Limonene… a
natural citrus hydrocarbon

d-Limonene is C10H16
CH3
H3C
CH2
Citrus Essential Oil Location
Albedo
(white, spongy)
Flavedo
(orange skin, rind)
Oil Glands
“It is probably true that all green plants in nature
produce limonene through their biochemical metabolism.”
-Dr. Robert J. Braddock -1999
Sustainable
U.S. EPA




Business Sustainability- increase long-term shareholder
and social value, while decreasing industry’s use of
materials and reducing impacts on the environment
EPA aims to make sustainability the next level of
environmental protection…advances in science and
technology…policies to protect public health and welfare,
and promoting green business practices
EPA promotes the use of LCAs...better understanding of
the environmental impacts of products, processes and
activities on human health and the environment
LCA will demonstrate that Citrus Oils are Sustainable
RCPA Action Plan






The industry formed the Renewable Citrus Products
Association or RCPA in 2008
Establish a presence in the regulatory community
Develop the renewable and sustainable profile for Citrus
Oils – a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Promote citrus oils as biobased, renewable and
sustainable with the media, public, NGOs and
governmental agencies
Secure proper treatment of Citrus Oils with respect to
governmental regulations
Conduct environmental, health and safety research on
Citrus Oils based on sound science
The RCPA Today

Our third year, we have 23 members

Representing the
 Juice Processors
 Citrus Oil Processors
 Flavor & Fragrance Industry
 Specialty Chemical Companies
 Citrus Oil Marketers
RCPA Officers

President


Vice President


Dr. David McKeithan, Firmenich
Executive Committee Member


Chris Baker, Kerry Ingredients and Flavors
Secretary


Nick Emanuel, Citrosuco NA
Treasurer


Jon Leonard, Florida Chemical Company
Dr. Tim Anglea, Coca-Cola North America
Executive Committee Technical Advisor

Dr. Robert Braddock, Professor Emeritus – University of Florida
RCPA Activities

The RCPA presented to the U.S. EPA Office of
Air Quality Planning and Standards in May of
2009

The RCPA monitors regulation activities by
U.S. EPA, California, OTC, Canada, etc.

The RCPA commissioned a Life Cycle
Assessment of Citrus Oils in 2010
Life Cycle Assessment



The RCPA has commissioned Environmental
Resources Management (ERM) to conduct a
streamlined LCA of Citrus Oils
ERM is a leading global provider of
environmental, health and safety, risk, and
social consulting services, helping clients
understand and manage their impacts on the
world around them
The LCA will be consistent with PAS 2050
which is derived from the ISO 14040 standard
Life Cycle Assessment



ERM will use the Building for Environmental
and Economic Sustainability (BEES) impact
assessment methodology to interpret the
results
BEES is used by the USDA for assessing
biobased products for the Federal BioPreferred
Program
BEES was also used recently for the United
Soybean Council’s life cycle profile for soy
products released in February
Life Cycle Assessment



The LCA uses the holistic model of cradle-to-cradle to
capture the unique advantages of bio-based citrus oils
Life Cycle Stages
 Orange growing, cultivation and harvest
 Raw materials production and transport
 Production and transport of packaging materials
 Juice and citrus oil extraction and processing
 Transport of oils to folders
 Citrus oil folding and processing (cradle-to-gate)
 Commercial and consumer use (gate-to-cradle)
The LCA will benefit the entire industry
Life Cycle Assessment

Data categories included in the study
 Raw materials and packaging inputs
 Chemical inputs
 Energy inputs (electricity and fuels)
 Other physical inputs, such as water
 Emissions to air, water and soil
 Products and by-products
 Material outputs, including solid waste and
wastewater
 Transportation
Life Cycle Assessment


The LCA calculates the carbon footprints for these
important products of commerce
 Orange Juice
 Cold-Pressed Orange Oil
 5 Fold Orange Oil
 Orange Terpenes
 Citrus Terpenes
 Citrus-based Animal Feed
 Citrus-based Molasses
The individual footprints of Citrus Oils are
specifically compared to the footprints of fossilbased counterparts
Life Cycle Assessment

Carbon footprints appear in a LCA as the first
impact category called the Global Warming
Potential (GWP)

GWP is typically expressed as:
kg CO2 equivalents per kg of product
 The RCPA LCA uses 1000 kg of Citrus Oil as
the functional unit
Life Cycle Assessment
The complete environmental impact requires the
examination of twelve impact categories (BEES):


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

Global Warming
Acidification
HH Cancer
HH Non-cancer
HH criteria air
pollutants
Eutrophication
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
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
Ecotoxicity
Smog
Natural resource
depletion
Habitat alteration
Water intake
Ozone depletion
Life Cycle Assessment



Results indicate the carbon footprint or GWP
for citrus oils to be considerably less than ALL
fossil-based chemicals
The LCA scientifically demonstrates the
Renewability and Sustainability of Citrus Oils
“Can you think of product with a
lower GWP?”
CO2 eq
Life Cycle Assessment
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Life Cycle Global Warming Potential (GWP) Results
Ecoinvent database and US LCI database from NREL
Life Cycle Assessment


The results in the chart show the difference in
global warming impact per 1000 kg of Citrus
Terpenes and the alternative material
The difference between producing and using
1,000 kg of d-Limonene vs. Acetone (VOC
exempt) amounts to GWP savings equivalent
to 14,850 miles driven in an average car


1.5 times the average mileage of a car in a year*
Equals ~ 3 round trips from Tampa to Los Angeles
*http://cta.ornl.gov/data/tedb29/Spreadsheets/Table8_02.xls
Ecoinvent database and US LCI database from NREL
Life Cycle Assessment
UNITS
FOSSIL / CITRUS*
g CO2 eq
12
H+ moles eq
10
HH cancer
g C6H6 eq
27
HH noncancer
g C7H7 eq
18
microDALYs
13
g N eq
(3)
Ecotoxicity
g 2,4-D eq
33
Smog
g NOx eq
6
Natural resource depletion
MJ surplus
Habitat alteration
T&E count
26
0.8
liters
< 0.1
g CFC-11 eq
(2450)
CATEGORY
Global warming
Acidification
HH criteria air pollutants
Eutrophication
Water intake
Ozone depletion
Fossil-based average vs. Citrus Oils Ratio
Draft*
Life Cycle Assessment
Summary



Overall the results indicate that Citrus Oils are
more environmentally benign and sustainable
when compared to fossil-based products
Among other biobased products Citrus Oils
also compare favorably
These conclusions are based on an overall
assessment of 12 environmental impact
categories
Life Cycle Assessment





The LCA will be an important resource for companies
performing LCAs on their products made using citrus
The LCA will be used to promote Citrus Oils as
biobased, renewable, and sustainable
 Develop a sustainability profile fact sheet designed
for Governmental and Public Relations
We have an opportunity to stop the replacement of
citrus oils with fossil-based chemicals
Carbon Footprints will continue to be relevant
Some fossil-based chemicals carry very large
carbon footprints
By permission of www.politicalcartoons.com
RCPA 2011
Proposed Focus Areas



Aquatic Toxicity
Dermal Sensitivity
Make LCA known to Regulatory Agencies
 EPA Proposed National VOC Regulation
 EPA Design for the Environment (DfE)
 USDA BioPreffered Program
 California Air Resources Board (CARB)
 Ozone Transport Commission (OTC)
 International Regulatory Agencies
Dedication
RCPA Member, Colleague and Friend
Thank You
Jon Leonard
Renewable Citrus Products Association
Florida Chemical Company
Winter Haven, Florida
leonard@floridachemical.com