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Contextualization of life cycle assessment methodology to eco-design localized protection systems by airflow in food industries

The issue of protecting products against external pollution is crucial in many industries. A current solution to avoid airborne contamination is the installation of clean rooms, with very strict production protocols. However, it is difficult to apply these protocols in many parts of food industries. Localized protection solutions using clean airflow, consisting in ensuring optimal environmental conditions as close as possible to risk areas, have therefore been developed. However, there is a gap between the strong enthusiasm that these devices arouse among socio-economic stakeholders and their very low deployment in the industries. One way to take a step forward could be to better define their contributions in terms of product quality and environmental performance while quantifying their costs.

In order to design and improve the environmental, health and economic performances of localized protection devices, an eco-design-type approach is useful. The eco- design of processes based on life cycle assessment (LCA) results is, for the moment, relatively devoid of any contextualization approach. However, it is indeed the insertion of the device within a larger system (the production workshop or even the factory) that we will call “context” which must be the subject of an evaluation with a view to its eco-design. Eco-design therefore goes beyond the physical object to focus more on the use and service case and spread throughout the industry or even the value chain.