Evaluation Of Bran Use Through Multi Criteria Analysis

In Italy, farmland decrease constantly over the years. From 1990 to now, we have already lost the 20% of cultivable area and 126 thousand hectares of farmland is lost every year. In the cereal sector the land available for the production reduced of 16% from 1990 to 2013. The cereal production, as the other agricultural activities, has a huge impact on environment, contributing to produce negative externalities. Furthermore, it is wasteful increasing the pressure on the environment without any utility and reducing the economic performance of producers. In the last years, the lower price of foreign cereals, especially wheat, joint to the weather conditions affected by the global warming, caused a loss of opportunity for domestic producers forced to reduce their production with negative consequences for all the productive system. This negative consequences of price volatility and environmental pressure, is particularly evident in region, like Basilicata and Puglia, where the cereal production represent an important part of regional GDP. Redefine the cereal system is necessary to improve the efficiency and reduce the ecological footprint of the production. Waste reduction of the entire cereal production chain could represent an opportunity to improve the system’s efficiency helping, at the same time, farmers to improve their economic performance. Furthermore, finding new market opportunity for production output that have a value, is desirable to promote circularity reducing the ecological footprint of that system. In this research, we analyze the cereals chain, in order to promote zero emission and zero waste project through the application of the so-called Zero Emission Strategy, in order to maximize the value of goods coupled to zero or reducing environmental impacts. The milling process of wheat produces large amount of wheat bran and in the area of study, each year are around 3 million tons of bran, the majority of which are wasted. Waste reduction it’s not only a problem of inefficiency of the cereal system as a whole but it’s also a problem of food security and social justice. To find new market opportunity for bran, a production output with a value, is desirable to promote circularity of the cereal chain, reducing the ecological footprint of that system and improving efficiency with environmental and economic advantages. This study aims to evaluate three different alternatives for bran use (i.e. paper production, biodiesel and feed) using 5 criteria: technical, environmental, circularity, social and economic and 17 sub-criteria, chosen to define and explain better the criteria. The evaluation of bran use through a multi-criterial analysis (MCA) is the best way to promote the adoption of closing-the-loop production patterns achieving a better balance and harmony between economy, environment and society. This research, aim also to explore the use of multi-criteria analysis like instrument for local authorities to evaluate project in order to promote the circular economy.