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Business Engagement with Sustainable Water Resource Management through Water Footprint Accounting: The Case of the Barilla Company

Author

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  • Marta Antonelli

    (Department of Economics, Roma Tre University, Via Silvio D'Amico 77, 00145 Rome, Italy)

  • Luca Fernando Ruini

    (Barilla G&R Fratelli SPA, via Mantova 166, 43122 Parma, Italy)

Abstract

This study investigates business engagement in sustainable water management, focusing on water footprint accounting as a tool to account for water use in food supply chains. An explorative analysis is conducted on the Barilla Company. The study explores two corporate strategies aimed at achieving more sustainable water use: the adoption of environmental products declarations (EPDs), a reporting system that accounts for the environmental footprints of Barilla’s pasta and other products; and the implementation of the Aureo Wheat Programme. The study deployed both primary and secondary data. The study shows that the largest share of the water footprint of pasta relates to the cultivation phase (over 90%), which is almost fully rainfed. EPDs show that the water footprint of the other phases of the supply chain is negligible. It is argued that the use of water footprinting in EPDs can raise awareness about water use in agricultural supply chains to reach a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including consumers. The study also shows that the implementation of the Aureo Wheat Programme, consisting of a shift in cultivation site and in the type of wheat, enabled a reduction in the blue water footprint of pasta, with water savings amounting to 35 million m 3 of blue water since 2011.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Antonelli & Luca Fernando Ruini, 2015. "Business Engagement with Sustainable Water Resource Management through Water Footprint Accounting: The Case of the Barilla Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:6:p:6742-6758:d:50264
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Marcello Stanco & Concetta Nazzaro & Marco Lerro & Giuseppe Marotta, 2020. "Sustainable Collective Innovation in the Agri-Food Value Chain: The Case of the “Aureo” Wheat Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Benedetta Esposito & Maria Rosaria Sessa & Daniela Sica & Ornella Malandrino, 2020. "Towards Circular Economy in the Agri-Food Sector. A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Chini, Christopher M. & Stillwell, Ashlynn S., 2020. "The changing virtual water trade network of the European electric grid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    4. Lu Zhang & Xiaochao Guo & Zhimei Lei & Ming K. Lim, 2019. "Social Network Analysis of Sustainable Human Resource Management from the Employee Training’s Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, January.
    5. Rosa Micale & Antonio Giallanza & Giuseppe Russo & Giada La Scalia, 2017. "Selection of a Sustainable Functional Pasta Enriched with Opuntia Using ELECTRE III Methodology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-14, May.

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