The Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Dairy Products

Üçtuğ, Fehmi Görkem

doi:10.1007/s12393-019-9187-4

Cited by 52 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…The Western dietary pattern in particular, which is characterized by a high consumption of beef, was found to have the greatest environmental impact. Furthermore, dairy products such as cheese and milk contributed significantly in terms of environmental footprints [ 67 , 68 , 69 ]. These considerations are in line with the results ( Figure 3 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing Dietary Behavior for Better Biodiversity Preservation: A Preliminary Study

et al. 2021

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Broadly consumed dietary patterns, such as the European and Western ones, are exerting pressures on biodiversity both in Europe and globally, and shifting toward a sustainable dietary pattern has thus become a must. This paper constitutes a preliminary communication of the results of a research project on the issue. In this study, the pressures of three dietary patterns (European, Western, and Mediterranean) on biodiversity are addressed in terms of land use, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and eutrophication impact indicators. The environmental impacts are calculated based on a compositional analysis of each dietary pattern and the environmental footprints of the corresponding food groups. Food balance sheets published by the FAO are used as a basis for the compositional analysis, while the environmental footprints of each of the representative food products are retrieved from related life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. The results show that a shift from the European to the Mediterranean dietary pattern would lead to 10 m2/capita/day land savings, 240 L/capita/day water savings, 3 kg CO2/capita/day reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and 20 gPO4eq/capita/day reductions in eutrophication potential. Likewise, a shift from the Western to the Mediterranean dietary pattern would lead to 18 m2/capita/day land savings, 100 L/capita/day water savings, 4 kg CO2/capita/day reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and 16 gPO4eq/capita/day reduction in eutrophication potential. Based on these findings, it is clear that this shift is urgently needed as a step toward environmentally sustainable dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean one, to preserve biodiversity for future generations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing Dietary Behavior for Better Biodiversity Preservation: A Preliminary Study

et al. 2021

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“…In literature, several researches have focused on the assessment of the environmental and economic impacts of the Italian dairy chain by using the Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) approach. Within the LCT approach, many different methodologies are useful to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of a life cycle, and the commonly used methodologies are Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) (18)(19)(20)(21).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of Four Dairy Farming Scenarios in an Alpine Environment: The Case Study of Toma di Lanzo Cheese

et al. 2020

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The dairy sector accounts for a large share of all European agricultural production, at the same time however, it is one of the most ascribed sector contributors to the environmental impact of agriculture, particularly for greenhouse gas emissions. Simultaneously, it is a strategic sector for the economy but generates increasing debate in the community regarding the social aspects mainly related to the use of resources and the food-feed competition of livestock involving the reduction of human-edible crops. In this general framework, this study aims to compare four different dairy farming scenarios characterized by different use of environmental resources in the Alpine area, considering as a case study the production of the Toma di Lanzo cheese (a traditional cheese produced in the mountainous regions of Piedmont-Northwest Italy). The study envisaged the integrated use of three methodologies: Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and the assessment of human-edible feed conversion efficiency to jointly analyze environmental, economic and social aspects. The main results of this research highlighted how the utilization of local breeds, which maximize the efficiency in the use of territory resources, such as grasslands in a mountain environment, allowed dairy production to reduce emissions, when compared to the high-input traditional breeding systems. Although the mountain livestock systems have several critical issues mainly linked to social factors such as low generational turnover, work schedules, modest life quality of families, it is however possible to earn more income than in lowland scenarios. At the same time, this production system allows the Toma di Lanzo cheese-making heritage to be preserved. This mountain pasture cheese, to which superior organoleptic and nutritional characteristics are attributable, when compared to cheeses from the valley floor, incorporates traditional values, a link to the territory and the transmission of knowledge. With reference to food-feed competition in livestock involving the reduction of the use of human-edible crops and feedstuffs in animal diets, we found that grazing and grass-based feeding systems were one of the most sustainable ways to produce milk.

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“…In www.nature.com/scientificreports/ other words, this food production system can mitigate the environmental impacts of the abovementioned ICs, due to utilization of bio-waste (mushroom production waste and banana peels) to feed insects by turning something harmful for environment into compost. Previous studies on the LCA of chicken [4][5][6] , beef 2,3 , milk [40][41][42] , and crop production 43 have shown that the production of these protein sources has negative environmental effects on all investigated ICs. Moreover, negative environmental effects on some ICs, namely, ozone layer depletion, non-renewable energy, aquatic eutrophication, ionizing radiation, carcinogens, aquatic acidification, non-carcinogens, respiratory inorganics, respiratory organics, terrestrial acid/nutria, and global warming, have been observed.…”

Section: Lca Results Table 3 Presents the Characterization Indicators Of Pbs Edible Insect Production In South Koreamentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment of edible insects (Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae) as a future protein and fat source

Nikkhah

Haute

Jovanović

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Because it is important to develop new sustainable sources of edible protein, insects have been recommended as a new protein source. This study applied Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental impact of small-scale edible insect production unit in South Korea. IMPACT 2002 + was applied as the baseline impact assessment (IA) methodology. The CML-IA baseline, EDIP 2003, EDP 2013, ILCD 2011 Midpoint, and ReCiPe midpoint IA methodologies were also used for LCIA methodology sensitivity analysis. The protein, fat contents, and fatty acid profile of the investigated insect (Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae) were analyzed to determine its potential food application. The results revealed that the studied edible insect production system has beneficial environmental effects on various impact categories (ICs), i.e., land occupation, mineral extraction, aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicity, due to utilization of bio-waste to feed insects. This food production system can mitigate the negative environmental effects of those ICs, but has negative environmental impact on some other ICs such as global warming potential. By managing the consumption of various inputs, edible insects can become an environmentally efficient food production system for human nutrition.

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The Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Dairy Products

Cited by 52 publications

References 62 publications

Changing Dietary Behavior for Better Biodiversity Preservation: A Preliminary Study

Changing Dietary Behavior for Better Biodiversity Preservation: A Preliminary Study

Sustainability of Four Dairy Farming Scenarios in an Alpine Environment: The Case Study of Toma di Lanzo Cheese

Life cycle assessment of edible insects (Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae) as a future protein and fat source

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