Investigation of the Environmental Impacts of Cameroon Tea Estates Production Through Life Cycle Assessment Methodology

Tea has received a lot of attention over the past decade as the second most consumed beverage in the world after water. Due to the complex nature of tea cultivation and its high production and consumption intensity, concern for their environmental impact is warranted. This study consists in assessing the environmental sustainability of tea cultivation and processing using as a case study of tea produced by the Cameroon Tea Estates company by the life cycle methodology (LCA) and allow the reduction of environmental loads associated with this activity.The company "Cameroon Tea Estates", which is the first national tea production company, was proposed as a case study. The environmental impacts associated with the production and processing of tea have been quantified using the life cycle analysis approach. Data was collected through face-to-face questionnaires with the company's employers. The analysis methodology was performed based on ISO 14040 standard using SimaPro software version 9.0.0.49, Ecoinvent database version 3.5 and ReCiPe Midpoint (H) v.1.03 method for the evaluation. A total of 18 impact categories (PMFP, FSP, FETP, FEP, GWP, HCTP, HNTP, IRP, LUP, METP, MEP, MSP, OFHP, OFTP, ODP, TAP, TETP and WCP) were assessed, each in its own unit.According to the results, reported for 1 ha of cultivation as a functional unit, the Global Warming Potential gives a total value of 5193 kg CO 2 eq , i.e. 98 % at the Culture stage, 0.15 % at the Harvest stage, 1 % at the processing stage and 0.62 % at the Packaging stage. The most affected impact categories include Freshwater ecotoxicity, Marine ecotoxicity and Human carcinogenic toxicity potential with normalized impacts amounting respectively to 120E 00 ; 80E 00 and 20E 00 were associated with the use of nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides in the agricultural phase.The results of this study draw up an inventory of the environmental benefits linked to tea production in Cameroon, which can be considered as the very first regulatory database for this sector which plays an important role in the country's economy. More importantly, the results of this study helped identify strategies for mitigating the environmental footprint of Cameroonian tea from a perspective of future sustainability. Although this analysis seems to be limited by the availability of certain data, the application of the LCA methodology has made it possible to obtain a more or less complete overview of the environmental benefits linked to the cultivation, harvesting and processing of tea in Cameroon and results that can be used for decision-making by public authorities. A recommendation to improve this technique based on the results of the analysis is to use biofuels and bioenergy in all processes which are more environmentally friendly.