Life cycle assessment of cheese production process in a small-sized dairy industry in Brazil

Abstract

Current research identifies, analyzes, and suggests improvements for minimizing environmental impacts in the manufacture of cheese using the life cycle assessment. Data collection and development of the inventory were performed in a small-sized dairy industry in Brazil. A cradle-to-gate approach was conducted based on the primary data from cheese production and secondary data from databases. The ReCiPe method was used for the impact assessment, considering the categories climate change, ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, photochemical oxidant formation, particulate matter formation, water depletion, and fossil depletion. A sensitivity analysis was performed including evaluations of different fuels for generating thermal energy, strategies for cleaning of dairy plant and utensils, variations in the way of cheese production based on the fat content, and production percentage changes. The results showed that the skimmed milk and thermal energy productions, electricity usage, and water consumptions were the main elementary flows. The pallet residues showed the best to be used as fuel for thermal energy. Detergent combinations did not influence the impact categories. There was a direct relationship between fat content range (20 to 30%) and the contribution in six impact categories. Changes from 20% in cheese allocation factor influenced the impact assessment results. LCA allowed identifying the main elementary flow of cheese production, providing valuable information with the potential to verify opportunities for on-site improvements.

Towards a contribution to sustainable management of a dairy supply chain

“…However, these LCA studies did not include any recommendations related to the dairy supply chain. Santos Junior et al (2017) proposed changes in the volume of hygiene products, without loss of quality and cleaning efficiency, to reduce the impacts of the life cycle of cheese. However, the authors did not suggest any integration for the cheese supply chain, focusing only on environmental performance.…”

“…It accounts for about 20% of all cheese produced in Brazil (Nepomuceno et al, 2016). Prato cheese has similar production stages to other cheese varieties and the highest economic value when compared to other dairy products (Santos Junior et al, 2017).…”

“…According to Djekic et al (2014) and Santos Junior et al (2017), the milk life cycle is the main contributor to the impact of the final product (cheese). This study did not consider the environmental burdens of milk as an input to the dairy plant.…”

“…Changes in the cleaning technique could therefore contribute to reducing consumption without comprising the cleaning efficiency. According to Santos Junior et al (2017), cleaning products combinations were not effective in reducing the impacts, altering them by less than 2%. Eide et al (2003) stated that cleaning technique contributes more to altering the impacts than the type of detergent used.…”

“…However, Doublet et al (2013) showed that Romania's energy mix was the major contributor to climate change due to the combustion of lignite in the power plant. Santos Junior et al (2017) indicated that the production of skimmed milk was the main contributor to climate change, mainly due to the use of energy. In the freshwater eutrophication category, the results (0.0002 kg P eq) were lower than those found by Doublet et al (2013), (0.0004-0.0010 kg P eq), because of the emissions caused by the combustion of lignite in Romanian power plants.…”