Pesticide emissions in the Environmental Product Footprint – Lessons learnt from refined sugar from sugar beet

The choice of models to estimate emissions from pesticide use represents a key methological aspect but to date a common agreement in the scientific community has not been achieved yet. This paper discusses the application of the PestLCI2.0 model to the case study of refined sugar from sugar beets, evaluating its feasibility and robustness, and considering the main criticalities at the level of both inventory and impact assessment. The study points out that, despite the non-homogeneous coverage of the pesticide emissions and of their effects, their inclusion in the study is of paramount important. We suggest favouring completeness over precision in the study, as key aspect for operationalizing the materiality principle fostered by PEF.