Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Five Greek Yogurt Production Systems: A Perspective beyond the Plant Boundaries

Catherine Houssard, Dominique Maxime, Scott Benoit, Yves Pouliot and Manuele Margni
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Catherine Houssard: CIRAIG, Mathematical and Industrial Engineering Department, Polytechnique Montréal, Technological University, Montréal, QC H3C 3A7, Canada
Dominique Maxime: CIRAIG, Mathematical and Industrial Engineering Department, Polytechnique Montréal, Technological University, Montréal, QC H3C 3A7, Canada
Scott Benoit: Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF), Department of Food Sciences, Université Laval Québec, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Yves Pouliot: Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF), Department of Food Sciences, Université Laval Québec, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Manuele Margni: CIRAIG, Mathematical and Industrial Engineering Department, Polytechnique Montréal, Technological University, Montréal, QC H3C 3A7, Canada

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-21

Abstract: Greek yogurt (GY), a high-protein-low-fat dairy product, particularly prized for its sensory and nutritional benefits, revolutionized the North American yogurt market in less than a decade, bringing with it new sustainability challenges. Standard GY production generates large volumes of acid whey, a co-product that is a potential source of environmental pollution if not recovered. This study aims to assess the environmental performance of different technologies and identify the main factors to improve GY production. A complete life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to compare the standard technology (centrifugation) with two new technologies (fortification and ultrafiltration) to reduce acid whey volumes. Three milk protein concentrate alternatives were also assessed. Results show that technology choice is not a clear discriminant factor. However, minimizing losses and wastage (accounting for 23 to 25% of the environmental impacts for all indicators) beyond the processing plant and selecting milk ingredients (accounting for 63 to 67% of the impacts) with low environmental impacts are key factors to improve the environmental performance of GY systems. From a methodological perspective, the results also highlight a shortcoming in the current LCA guidelines (2015) issued by the International Dairy Federation to treat the multifunctionality of GY systems.

Keywords: LCA; greek-style yogurt processing; environmental impacts; losses and wastage; multifunctionality; allocation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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