Dear Reid Leifset:
Some answers to your questions are given below. A prerequisite however is
that you do have some understanding of the German language....(sorry), and
accept that most data are European.
An LCA of coffee can be found on:
http://www.ecomed.de/journals/lca/documents/welcome.htm
Vol. 3:
Produkt-Ökobilanz vakuumverpackter Röstkaffee
(in German, with a "Standard Report Form for LCA Studies" in English)
(Vacuum Packed Roasted Coffee)
Commissioner: Kraft Jacobs Suchard Company
Practitioner: Fraunhofer Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Verpackung,
Giggenhauserstr. 35, D-85354 Freising, Germany
The subject of the study is roasted and ground coffee from different
countries of cultivation (product name "Krönung") which has been vacuum
packed in the packing system of the Kraft Jacobs Suchard Company (KJS). The
product was examined as to its different stages, from coffee cultivation,
primary processing, roasting, packing, distribution to purchase and
preparation by the consumer as well as waste treatment of coffee grounds,
packaging materials and filter bags.
Length:220 pages
Price:Euro 45,-- / US $ 55.–
ISBN:3-928379-55-0
Ofcourse you can also use are Coffee machine demo example in our SimaPro
LCA software as a start and work out the example by including coffee
production (see www.pre.nl/simapro). Educational discounts and temporary
licenses are available. (So far the commercial part).
I am not aware of any hamburger studies. However many LCAs have been done
in the food sector so you will get partial data for bread, meat,
vegetables, ketchup etc. from which you have to comile your own example.
You can start at http://www.sik.se/sik/affomr/miljo/lcanetf.html , the web
site of an EU project which has some documents. Niels Jungbluth of
ESU-Services did his doctorate on food, see also
http://www.esu-services.ch/publications.html (scroll down to case studies/
food consumption)
Now for the "master database" of LCA studies: the US EPA has is setting up
a worldwide listing at http://www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/lcaccess/, (applause!)
however as far as I can see it is not yet filled. One problem is ofcourse
many LCA studies are confidential for obvious reasons. Some collections
can be found on www.globalspine.com or www.spold.org, www.life-cycle.org
A web site that looks at the environmental impacts of a whiteboard marker
that may be interesting for teaching purposes was recently mailed to me by
Per Nielsen: www.howproductsimpact.net
Ofcourse I am interested in any other sites that any of you may know of, so
please keep me posted.
Kind regards,
Michiel Oele
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