Plant based meat alternative, from cradle to company-gate: A case study uncovering the environmental impact of the Swedish pea protein value chain
2023 (English)In: Journal of Cleaner Production, ISSN 0959-6526, E-ISSN 1879-1786, Vol. 418, article id 138173Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Dry-fractioned pea protein concentrate can be moulded into meat-analogue products, and understanding the environmental impact and hot spots of this expanding industry segment could pave the road to broader adoption of these protein sources. Hence, this research measures the environmental performance of a green pea protein supply chain in southern Sweden that processes pea protein concentrate into pea protein sausages. A cradle-to-factory-gate life-cycle assessment was performed. 1 kg of pea protein concentrate at 46% and 1 kg of pea protein sausages were chosen as functional units, while ReCiPe 2016 v1.1 Midpoint E was utilized to calculate 18 impact categories. Economic allocation was applied to pea protein processing, and mass allocation to sausage production, using 2021/22 data from Swedish companies. For 1 kg of pea protein concentrate of 46%, cultivation contributes to 41–99% of the total impact considering all 18 impact categories, while processing 1–59%. The climate impact was 1.91 kg CO2eq/kg pea protein concentrate (1.54 from the cultivation step and 0.37 from the processing step). For 1 kg of pea protein sausages, cultivation and sausage production contributed together between 32% and 78% to the total impacts. The climate impact was 1.0 kg CO2eq/kg sausage. Comparing the climate impacts of sausage ingredients, rapeseed oil and spices contributed significantly. For the sausage production stage, electricity and natural gas contributed the most. The results for climate impact are in the same range as for similar plant-based products, although the range reported in literature is wide. Green pea cultivation, sausage production and ingredients contributed all significantly. The results highlight the need to address the choice of ingredients when formulating the final product. The choice of allocation method had a significant impact on the results. Mass allocation resulted in 6 times lower impacts for the pea protein concentrate compared to economic allocation. © 2023 The Authors
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier Ltd , 2023. Vol. 418, article id 138173
Keywords [en]
Dry fractioning, Life cycle assessment, Meat analogues, Plant-based proteins, Pulses, Environmental impact, Environmental management, Meats, Proteins, Supply chains, 'Dry' [, Climate impacts, Meat analog, Pea protein concentrates, Pea proteins, Plant-based protein, Pulse, Swedishs, Life cycle
National Category
Food Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-65668DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138173Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85165545314OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-65668DiVA, id: diva2:1786972
Note
Correspondence Address: E. Desiderio; RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Sweden;
This article was funded under FINEST – Food Innovation Enabling Sustainable Transition (2021–2024) – by Formas, the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development. The authors of this article would like to thank GroPro AB, FoodHills AB, Lyckeby Culinar AB and Orkla Foods Sverige AB for kindly providing data.
2023-08-102023-08-102023-08-10Bibliographically approved