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Web End = Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017) 24:34703482 DOI 10.1007/s11356-016-8084-0
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Web End = RESEARCH ARTICLE
Life cycle assessment of cheese production process in a small-sized dairy industry in Brazil
Hudson Carlos Maia Santos Jr.1 & Henrique Leonardo Maranduba2 &
Jos Adolfo de Almeida Neto2 & Luciano Brito Rodrigues1
Received: 2 July 2016 /Accepted: 19 October 2016 /Published online: 21 November 2016 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
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.
Keywords Life cycle assessment . Cheese . Environmental impact assessment . Food industry . Dairy products . Environmental management
Introduction
The interest in environmental impacts of food production is increasing. The rising world population, the consumer preference for greener products, and the growing demands of regulatory agencies, as well as the business-to-business relationships, are contributing to production practices that aim to reduce the environmental impacts.
From 1983 to 2013, there was an increase of 49% in world milk production (considering kinds of milk from cow,...