LCA Food 2012 in Saint Malo, France! - Manifestations et colloques ...

PARALLEL SESSION 1C: ECODESIGN AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
Finally, another major stage investigated through the project was product delivery phase, leading to a series
of improvement actions identified. Significant reductions related to electrical and diesel consumption
were estimated around 10-15% at this phase by means of improved refrigerated storage, distribution routes
optimisation and reverse logistics solutions.
3.3. Compared LCA results based on potential improvements
Significant impact reductions were achieved through the improvements identified at different stages of
the life cycle, as can be observed in Table 1. In the feed production stage, freshwater eutrophication and
global warming effect decreased 11% and 6% respectively by replacing conventional ingredients with tomato
by-products in the poultry diet, avoiding the import of grain from long distance.
Water consumption and wastewater generation were minimised about 16% in the slaughterhouse and
meat processing stage through recycling and re-use alternatives, by applying innovatives techniques such as
pulsed light decontamination.
Conventional plastic tray and film were replaced with biodegradable materials avoiding up to 20% of
greenhouse gases emissions associated to life cycle packaging. However biodegradable materials showed an
increased impact in freshwater eutrophication linked to the crop cultivation stage required to obtain raw materials
for bioplastic production.
Environmental impacts during product delivery stage were also reduced by improving different aspects
along the supply chain, among others, implementing modularity at refrigerated storage spaces, optimising
delivery routes and promoting eco-driving lessons. Estimated savings in electrical and diesel consumption at
this phase lead to a decrease between 13-15% in all the impact categories.
In terms of the whole life cycle of the analysed chicken product combined improvements have resulted in
significant reductions mainly in three categories: climate change (-6.7%), freshwater eutrophication (-5.3%)
and water depletion (-11.9%).
Table 3. Environmental results per FU for the considered improvement options.
Poultry Feed Slaughtering Packaging Product delivery Combined
scenario
Value Red.(%) Value Red.(%) Value Red.(%) Value Red.(%) Value Red.(%)
CC 1.53 -4.8% 0.16 -2.5% 0.14 -20.8% 0.17 -13.1% 2.70 -6.7%
OZ 0.12 -2.2% 0.01 -2.3% 0.01 87.8% 0.03 -15.0% 0.19 -1.5%
AC 11.20 -1.3% 0.85 -3.7% 0.34 -31.6% 0.83 -13.0% 74.45 -0.5%
FE 0.46 -9.3% 0.08 -8.4% 0.04 78.9% 5.3E-04 -13.0% 1.09 -5.3%
WD 4.39 -3.3% 5.73 -15.9% 0.75 -54.4% 0.02 -13.1% 17.88 -11.9%
CED 13.61 -1.8% 2.50 -3.1% 1.89 30.1% 2.32 -13.0% 27.99 -1.4%
CC = Climate change; Units: kg CO2 eq., OZ = Ozone depletion; Units: mg CFC eq., AC = Terrestrial acidification; Units: g SO2 eq.,
FE = Freshwater eutrophication; Units g P eq., WD = Water depletion; Units: l, CED = Cumulative energy demand; Units: MJ
4. Conclusion
Through the ECOALIM project, LCA methodology has been successfully applied in order to identify
critical stages and operations along the life cycle of a food product from an environmental point of view, but
also for comparative analysis between different technologies and potential improvement options. LCA
proved to be a useful tool directly involved in the decision making process when minimising the environmental
impact associated to food chains, and additionally a considerable option to promote competitiveness,
innovation and sustainability through the eco-design of food products.
According to the results of the present study the strong contribution of the poultry feed production stage
on the environmental impact of a chicken product has been pointed out, as previously highlighted by other
authors (Alvarenga, 2012) (Leinonen et al., 2012) (Katajajuuri, 2009). Nevertheless, the relevance of other
phases of the life cycle should not be underestimated. Environmental improvements at every stage can lead
to significant global reductions due to the high volume of consumption of the analysed product.
Acknowledgements: This work was performed with the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science
and Innovation. We want to thank the partners involved in the project ECOALIM for their help with data
collection
5. References
Althaus H.-J., Dinkel F., Stettler C. and F. W. (2007) Life Cycle Inventories of Renewable Materials. Final report ecoinvent Data
v2.0 No. 21. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf, retrieved from: www.ecoinvent.org.
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