Can we associate environmental footprints with production and consumption using Monte Carlo simulation? Case study with pork meat

Abstract

BACKGROUNDGrowing population demands more animal protein products. Pork remains one of the traditional and relatively sustainable types of meats for human consumption. In this paper, life‐cycle assessment was performed using data from 12 pig farms. In parallel, a survey on the consumption of pork meat products was conducted analyzing responses from 806 pork meat consumers. The study aims to provide a quantitative calculation of six environmental footprints associated with the consumption of pork meat products in Serbia by analyzing data from pig farms and a pork meat consumption survey.RESULTSResults revealed that pork meat production is responsible for the emission of 3.50 kg CO2e kg−1 live weight, 16.1 MJe kg−1, 0.151 mg R11e kg−1, 31.257 g SO2e kg−1, 55.030 g PO4e kg−1 and 3.641 kg 1.4 dBe kg−1. Further calculations reveal that weekly emissions of various environmental potentials associated with an average consumer of pork meat products in Serbia are estimated at values of 4.032 kg CO2e week−1, 18.504 MJe week−1, 0.17435 mg R11e week−1, 35.972 g SO2e week−1 and 63.466 g PO4e week−1.CONCLUSIONSResults show that, on the one hand, pork products are responsible for environmental production impacts that mainly occur on farms while, on the other hand, consumption is characterized with high meat inclusion rates. As a leverage strategy it is recommended for producers to concentrate on lowering the production impacts rather than trying to reach consumers for sustainability conciseness. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

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