Resource recovery of biological residues from the Brazilian poultry industry in mitigating environmental impacts: A life cycle assessment (LCA) approach

Poultry farming is often associated with negative environmental impacts, such as water quality degradation and greenhouse gas emissions. This study covers important gaps in the geographic scope of poultry farming using Life Cycle Assessment analysis. Data on animal feed, energy, packaging, and waste were collected from the poultry industry in Rondonia, Brazil. The life cycle inventory included all inflows and outflows of feed production, poultry housing, slaughter, processing, the retail market, and the functional unit of 1 kg chicken meat with 0.22 kg protein. The ReCiPe Midpoint (H) method was used for seven categories of impact. The results showed that emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG, CO2, N2O and CH4) during the feed production phase was dominant, totaling 2.0 kg CO2-eq per kg of live weight produced. This stage was most relevant in six of seven categories of impacts assessed. During the poultry housing stage, terrestrial acidification was dominated by emissions of NH3, P and N2O from one-day-old chicks (hatching eggs, poultry house litter, and feed). The total environmental impact of producing broilers in Brazil amounted to 3.37 kg CO2-eq per kg of meat at the consumer market gate. The LPG gas and biological waste from slaughterhouses was dominant in this phase. The retail stage revealed contributions above 43% in all impact categories due to high consumption of electricity (0.11 kWh (0.39 MJ) per kg of meat). Three scenarios were proposed and demonstrated, using biological residues as a source of nutrients for feed composition. The results showed that using poultry viscera meal led to better environmental outcomes for all impacted categories.

Automated summary

This study fills important gaps in the geographic scope of poultry farming using Life Cycle Assessment analysis. The results show that greenhouse gas emissions during the feed production phase are the main environmental impact. The study also proposes three scenarios, demonstrating that using poultry viscera meal can lead to better environmental outcomes.