DELIVERABLE 4.2 "Environmental, Social and Economic Assessment"

This document presents Deliverable D4.2 – “Environmental, Social and Economic Impact Assessment” (Version 2), prepared within the framework of the Horizon Europe EIC Pathfinder project SafeWax (Grant Agreement No. 101099462), coordinated by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The deliverable provides a comprehensive sustainability evaluation of the SafeWax bioinspired coating, addressing its environmental footprint, social impact, economic feasibility, and job creation potential. The assessment integrates mass and energy balance calculations and cradle-to-grave life cycle analysis (LCA) covering all 16 environmental impact categories defined by the European Commission. The results show that over 90% of the environmental burden is associated with solvent use in the production process. Benchmarking against conventional fungicides highlights SafeWax’s potential to significantly reduce ecotoxicity and greenhouse gas emissions. The social impact assessment quantified benefits in terms of health and well-being, expressed through Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), and evaluated SafeWax’s contribution to job creation. The economic assessment demonstrated the coating’s competitiveness, with a viable selling price supported by favorable CAPEX and OPEX projections. Overall, SafeWax is shown to be a safe, sustainable, and economically competitive solution for crop protection, supporting the transition to reduced pesticide use and aligning with the EU Green Deal objectives. Access to this deliverable is temporarily embargoed until its formal review and approval by the European Commission Project Officer and external reviewers, in accordance with Horizon Europe dissemination and data management policies.