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

PARALLEL SESSION 7C: FOOD CHAIN AND FOOD WASTE 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
626
Food waste from cheese and yoghurt in a life cycle perspective
Hanne Møller * , Vibeke Schakenda, Ole Jørgen Hanssen
Ostfold Research, Gamle Beddingv. 2b, 1671 Kråkerøy, Norway
Corresponding author. E-mail: hanne.moller@ostfoldforskning.no
ABSTRACT
Food waste is a major contributor to climate change, however many LCA studies do not include it. In this carbon footprint case study
of cheese and yoghurt, specific data relating to food waste at the retail stage have been included for both products, and, in the case of
cheese, also at the consumer stage. The cheese case study compares sliced cheese with cheese in a whole piece. The waste at the
consumer stage is significantly higher for the whole piece of cheese than sliced cheese, but the opposite is found when one considers
the use of packaging material. When one looks at the total life cycle, sliced cheese has slightly lower global warming potential when
compared with cheese in a whole piece. This reveals how the increased use of packaging materials can result in a lower impact on
global warming, where the packaging solution reduces product waste. In the yoghurt case study LCA, four different sizes of product
and corresponding packaging systems are compared. The results show that the packaging for the largest product unit had the lowest
total global warming potential.
Keywords: LCA, cheese, yoghurt, consumption, food waste, packaging
1. Introduction
Food waste or loss is measured only for products that are directed to human consumption, excluding feed
and parts of products which are not edible. In the early life cycle stages (production, postharvest and processing
stages) food loss can be defined as loss. At later stages of the life cycle (retail and final consumption) the
term food waste is applied and generally relates to behavioural issues (FAO, 2011).
Food waste can make a major contribution to climate change. Food waste creates impact both during production
of the wasted product, and from waste treatment. In many LCA studies food waste as an element, has
not been included, or included only with data based on assumptions.
Packaging and packaging waste is a major concern, both in the environmental debate and in governmental
regulations and policies. Packaging waste is a highly visible problem both domestically and in the retail sector.
Other case studies have focused on packaging, and shown that the packaging itself has little significance
for the product system as a whole (Busser and Jungbluth, 2009). With regard to packaging, the following
factors can affect the amount of food waste relating to the product: improved information about the best before
date; packaging size adjusted to the consumer, and use of packaging barrier properties which can increase
shelf life. There is no doubt that environmental impact can be significantly reduced with a decrease in
food waste, however the extent to which new packaging solutions can influence food waste is not clear (Williams,
2011).
2. Methods and data
The carbon footprint case study on cheese and yoghurt, aims to show comparisons between different
product and packaging solutions. The functional unit is the consumption of 1 kg cheese and 1 kg yoghurt
respectively, in different packaging solutions. The product system comprises the entire life cycle from cradle
to grave. The data for farming and dairy produce is based on a review of literature relating to dairy products
(IDF, 2009). This review considered 60 studies on the environmental impact of dairy products, and the averages
are used in this case study on cheese and yoghurt. The case study has a particular focus on food waste
and packaging. For both products, specific data relating to food waste at the retail stage have been included
and, in the case of cheese, food waste at the consumer stage has also been included.
The life cycle of MAP-packed sliced cheese and vacuum packed whole piece cheese have been chosen as
examples, in order to highlight the issues relating to optimal packing for cheese. Similarly, in the case of
yoghurt, four different packaging solutions have been selected: a 500 ml cup, an 8*125 ml cup, a duo-cup
and a drink bottle 0,3 ml..
The data for food waste at the retail stage have been calculated using data from a food waste project
(Hanssen and Schakenda, 2011). Data for six retail stores have been selected, based on revenue (high, medium
and low) and the type of store. Data for these stores have been sorted and food waste calculated in each
packing group for cheese and yoghurt (table 1 and 2).