Life Cycle Assessment of Cheese and Whey Production in the USA

Kim, Daesoo; Nutter, Darin W.; Milani, F; Ulrich, Rick; Norris, Greg

doi:10.1201/b20562-8

Cited by 11 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…As can be seen in Table 2, the carbon footprint (CF) value resulting from the present study (10.2 kg CO2 eq kg -1 ) were within the range of values reported in literature for cow cheeses (4.2-16.9 kg CO2 eq kg −l ). Moreover, it should be highlighted that this CF value was almost the same as that estimated by González-García et al (2013b) for "San Simón da Costa" (a traditional Galician cheese, Spain) and it is also in the range reported for Cheddar in USA and Denmark (8.6-16.2 kg CO2 eq per kg) (Capper and Cady, 2012;Kim et al, 2013;Kristensen et al, 2015). All these cheeses ("Franxón", "Casín", "San Simón da Costa" and Cheddar) are considered as full-fat cheeses, i.e., their fat content (on a dry matter basis) is above or equal to 45% and less than 60%, according to the Codex General Standard for Cheese (FAO, 2017).…”

Section: Global Overview and Measures For Environmental Improvementsupporting

confidence: 75%

Environmental impact of cheese production: A case study of a small-scale factory in southern Europe and global overview of carbon footprint

Canellada

Laca

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

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The environmental performance of a small-scale cheese factory sited in a NW Spanish region has been analysed by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as representative of numerous cheese traditional factories that are scattered through the European Union, especially in the southern countries. Inventory data were directly obtained from this facility corresponding to one-year operation, and the main subsystems involved in cheese production were included, i.e. raw materials, water, electricity, energy, cleaning products, packaging materials, transports, solid and liquid wastes and gas emissions. Results indicated that the environmental impacts derived from cheese making were mainly originated from raw milk production and the natural land transformation was the most affected of the considered categories. On the contrary, the manufacturing of packaging material and other non-dairy ingredients barely influenced on the total impact. Additionally, an average carbon footprint of the cheeses produced in the analysed facility has also been calculated, resulting milk production and pellet boiler emissions the most contributing subsystems. Furthermore, it was notable the positive environmental effect that entailed the direct use of whey as animal feed, which was considered in this study as avoided fodder. Finally, a revision of published works regarding the environmental performance of cheese production worldwide was provided and compared to results found in the present work. According to the analysed data, it is clear that the content of fat and dry extract are determinant factors for the carbon footprint of cheeses, whereas the cheesemaking scale and the geographical area have a very low effect.

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Section: Global Overview and Measures For Environmental Improvementsupporting

confidence: 75%

Environmental impact of cheese production: A case study of a small-scale factory in southern Europe and global overview of carbon footprint

Canellada

Laca

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

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“…It is also important to note that raw milk production is, in most cases, a very large contributor to the overall environmental impact associated with producing dairy products, particularly when examining the overall Global Warming Potential (GWP). This has previously been demonstrated in a number of studies, including Kim et al (2013), Vergé et al (2013), Djekic et al (2014) and Finnegan et al (2017a, b). At the dairy factory, it was observed that the major contributors to the environmental impact were related to energy requirements and input of goods.…”

supporting

confidence: 62%

Assessing the environmental impact of the dairy processing industry in the Republic of Ireland

Finnegan

Goggins

Zhan

2018

Journal of Dairy Research

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This Research Communication describes the methodology used and the subsequent results obtained for an assessment of the environmental impact associated with the manufacture of dairy products in the Republic of Ireland. As the Irish dairy industry changes and grows, it is necessary to have a benchmark of the environmental performance of the sector if it is to remain sustainable in the future. In order to estimate the environmental impact, life cycle assessment has been implemented, which has been structured in accordance with the International Organisation for Standardisation guidelines. In this study, the environmental impact categories assessed are terrestrial acidification potential, cumulative energy demand, freshwater eutrophication potential, global warming potential, marine eutrophication potential and water depletion. The main Irish dairy products have been compared across these environmental impact categories in order to derive meaningful results. It is identified that packaging materials, particularly for infant formula, and energy usage, across each of the life cycle stages, should be targeted as these are the most significant contributors to the overall environmental impact.

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“…Cradle‐to‐grave results included raw milk production stage, which was adopted from previously published research and thus not discussed here (Kim et al. ; Henderson et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Sustainability of Fluid Milk Delivery Systems in the United States

Burek¹,

Kim²,

Nutter³

et al. 2017

J of Industrial Ecology

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Summary Beverage producers in the United States choose packaging based on cost and consumer preference. Monolayer high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) and gable‐top carton containers have long dominated the U.S. fluid milk market, but pressure for more sustainable packaging is increasing. We present a broad discussion on environmental sustainability of 18 fluid milk containers through life cycle assessment. Because different container types require unique milk processing, distribution, and disposal and incur or avoid milk losses, fluid milk delivery systems (FMDSs) are evaluated, rather than containers in isolation. By assessing FMDSs, a complete measure of containers’ environmental sustainability was obtained. Despite conservative assumptions about milk losses, differences in container size, milk processing, distribution, and container recycling, pair‐wise cradle‐to‐grave comparisons of FMDSs show there are no superior FMDSs. But, 500‐ to 1,000‐milliliter FMDSs are potentially superior to ≥half gallon if they prevent milk losses. Thus, the future of FMDSs in the United States depends on the industry's ability to prevent distribution (12%) and consumption milk losses (20% to 35%). Farm‐gate‐to‐grave comparisons showed that chilled HDPE FMDSs are superior to other plastic and chilled paperboard FMDSs for climate‐change impact, but the result is inconclusive for chilled HDPE to ambient (unrefrigerated) paperboard or plastic pouch FMDS comparisons. Plastic pouch FMDSs show potential to reduce nonrenewable fossil energy, but need to be recyclable. Ambient FMDSs are superior to chilled FMDSs for water depletion. Eight‐ounce paperboard FMDSs are superior to 8‐ounce plastic FMDSs. Thus, alternative FMDSs may improve environmental sustainability of the U.S. postfarm fluid milk supply chain.

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Life Cycle Assessment of Cheese and Whey Production in the USA

Cited by 11 publications

References 17 publications

Environmental impact of cheese production: A case study of a small-scale factory in southern Europe and global overview of carbon footprint

Environmental impact of cheese production: A case study of a small-scale factory in southern Europe and global overview of carbon footprint

Assessing the environmental impact of the dairy processing industry in the Republic of Ireland

Environmental Sustainability of Fluid Milk Delivery Systems in the United States

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