Are the present standard methods effectively useful to mitigate the environmental impact of the 99% EU food and drink enterprises?

By applying a previously developed LCA model, the carbon footprint (PCF) of beer packed in 66-cL glass bottles in a medium-sized brewery was estimated (∼90 kg CO2e hL−1) and the main life cycle hotspots were identified. By resorting to 100%-recycled glass bottles, barley grown locally using organic agriculture methods, rail instead of road transport; etc., it was possible to reduce PCF to as low as 49 kg CO2e hL−1. A cost/benefit analysis might help SMEs to recognize which opportunities effectively reduce their product environmental impact, as well as to decide to invest on the collection of selected primary data to make PCF calculation more accurate, or further progress in the estimation of other selected impact categories.