Life Cycle Environmental Impact Assessment of Green Tea Production in China

Tea is the second most popular beverage in the world after water, and the potential environmental problems during the entire life cycle stages of its production have not been thoroughly discussed. This study aims to investigate the overall environmental impact of green tea production as a typical perennial crop in China with the system boundary from "cradle to gate". Scenario analysis is carried out to investigate the factors of green tea processing scales and packaging methods on the overall environmental impact level of green tea production in China. Results showed that the average overall global warming potential of procuring 1 kg dry green tea in China ranges from 10.4 to 15.6 kg CO2eq, depending on different processing scales and packaging methods. The processing stage is the dominant contributor to the overall environmental impact of producing 1 kg dry green tea product due to the use of electricity. Electricity consumption in the processing stage and chemical fertilizer application in the planting stage are identified as the environmental hotspots throughout the life cycle of green tea production in China. Optimizing energy structure and improving energy use efficiency in the processing stage, as well as reducing the amount of chemical fertilizer application are the critical measures needed to mitigate the environmental emissions of green tea throughout the life cycle.