The result of 5 years of work the support software for PDO PGI consortia and companies
Grana Padano PDO, from Life TTGG research new tool for energy saving and sustainability
Consortia for the Protection of Geographical Indications leading research projects on sustainability and sustainable efficiency of production processes
Italian PDO PGI supply chains are enriched with a new strategic set to optimise environmental and economic performance through energy efficiency and waste reduction proposals, thanks to an innovative Environmental Decision Support System (SSDA). A strategic tool, the software is the result of the Life TTGG research project initiated by the Consorzio di Tutela Grana Padano and realised by international scientific partners such as Politecnico di Milano, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Piacenza, Fondazione Qualivita, CNIEL, Enersem and oriGIn.
The final results of the project, launched in 2017, were presented at Cibus, through a technical workshop organised by Qualivita and Consorzio di Tutela Grana Padano with the collaboration of partners and the participation of CSQA Certificazioni, to show companies the new opportunities for sustainable efficiency of production processes, including the ambitious goal of energy independence.
The SSDA software, which is based on the European PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) methodology, is in fact the first software to combine environmental footprint calculation with the identification of concrete and specific measures to reduce energy consumption. Developed, validated and tested on the production contexts of the Italian Grana Padano PDO cheese and the French Comté PDO, the support tool will enable improvements in three macro-environments along the entire dairy chain: environmental performance on farms, energy efficiency in the dairy, product preservation and food waste reduction.
At a time of serious uncertainty in the energy field, thanks to the Consorzio di Tutela’s planning, in the coming months PDO cheese producers will have at their disposal an advanced support that, among other functions, will enable them to optimise the entire production process, through the estimation of energy consumption and the definition of potential energy savings: from heat recovery from whey to condensers.
As a natural development, the software will be customised for the use of other PDO PGI product chains and thanks to the PEF methodology – the single European standard – at the heart of the project, it can be a tool for achieving the sustainability goals set by the Green Deal strategy and Farm to Fork policies and for accessing numerous support and incentive tools for companies provided as part of the new European green course.
DECLARATIONS
Renato Zaghini, President of the Consorzio Tutela Grana Padano
For five years, in the Life TTGG project we have united universities, start-ups, manufacturing companies, and Italian and French training and research organisations in an important synergy, starting from the need to calculate the average environmental impact for the Grana Padano PDO and break it down into the various stages of the supply chain in order to identify efficiency solutions to reduce it to be applied along the entire route. Today we present the concrete result of this work. It is a ‘green’ decision-support software for the Grana Padano PDO consortium members, which will also enable all PDO cheese companies to apply the PEF methodology to calculate the environmental footprint of their products and optimise their production system from both an environmental and economic point of view.
Stefano Berni, General Manager of the Consorzio Tutela Grana Padano
LIFE TTGG has enabled the Consortium to join the national certification scheme for the assessment and communication of the environmental footprint ‘Made Green in Italy’, promoted by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, realised in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Milan and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Piacenza, to affirm sustainable production and consumption models. Our commitment will continue by providing support services to consortium members, involving the entire supply chain in ‘ecological transition’ paths. The results already achieved enable us to seize the opportunities of the NRP, because we know how to improve environmental performance and we have the knowledge and tools to intervene effectively.
Jacopo Famiglietti, Politecnico di Milano, Scientific Coordinator Life TTGG
The SSDA software, developed as part of the LIFE TTGG project, makes it possible to measure, in a simple and pragmatic way, the environmental impacts of hard cheese production: from raw milk production to cheesemaking, packaging, use and end-of-life. The important processing of the data collected along the entire Grana Padano PDO supply chain has made it possible to create a set of efficiency-boosting actions that allow each actor to assess its own potential for improving its environmental profile and to receive concrete suggestions on the most effective strategy in relation to its own business reality.
Mauro Rosati, General Director Fondazione Qualivita
In the PDO PGI supply chains, the role of the Protection Consortia is indispensable to effectively address ecological transition and process innovation. The LIFE TTGG project promoted by the Consortium for the Protection of Grana Padano PDO together with research bodies and professionals demonstrates that it is possible to achieve important objectives on sustainability that have an immediate impact on agri-food companies in terms of energy savings and reduced environmental impact. After five years of work, the Life TTGG project rewards the commitment of the Consorzio Tutela Grana Padano.
[WORKSHOP VIDEO]
For information, please contact the organisation secretariat by sending an email to: eventi@qualivita.it
