Implementing a circular economy in Russian agriculture: combining life cycle assessment and economic assessment

Issue № 7, 2026, article № 2, pages 18-32

Section: Agrarian policy: problems and decisions

Language: Russian

Original language title: ВНЕДРЕНИЕ ЭКОНОМИКИ ЗАМКНУТОГО ЦИКЛА В СЕЛЬСКОЕ ХОЗЯЙСТВО РОССИИ: СОВМЕЩЕНИЕ ОЦЕНКИ ЖИЗНЕННОГО ЦИКЛА И ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОЙ ОЦЕНКИ

Keywords: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, CIRCULAR ECONOMICS, RUSSIAN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXTERNALITIES, LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

Abstract: This article examines Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology as a tool for the economic assessment of environmental effects in Russian agriculture. The author proposes an original six-stage sectoral approach that allows for the identification, quantification, and internalization of environmental externalities at all stages of the life cycle – from resource procurement to production and sale of products and services. The first three stages involve the identification of types and sources of environmental effects within the sector under consideration. Three universal groups of impacts have been identified: natural resource use, environmental pollution, and landscape changes. At the fourth stage, adapted approaches and methods used in the IPCC and GHG Protocol standards are employed to assess these impacts in physical terms, ensuring flexibility depending on the level of detail and data availability. The fifth stage is aimed at identifying the sources of environmental externalities. Within the sixth stage, environmental externalities are valued in monetary units. For economic valuation, generally accepted methods are applied, as well as methods specific to the economics of sustainable development and natural resource management: market analysis, the replacement cost method, willingness-to-pay approaches, and discounted cash flow methods. The application of the methodology is demonstrated through a case study on crop farming, including the assessment of direct and indirect environmental effects, as well as the identification of the recipients of both negative and positive externalities.

Authors: Tereshina Mariia Valentinovna, Rakintsev Dmitrii Sergeevich