Introducing the Green Protein Footprint method as an understandable measure of the environmental cost of anchovy consumption.

In a global framework of growing concern for food security and environmental protection, the selection of food products with higher protein content and lower environmental impact is a challenge. To assess the reliability of different strategies along the food supply chain, a measure of food cost through the environmental impact-protein content binomial is necessary. This study proposes a standardized method to calculate the Green Protein Footprint (GPF) index, a method that assesses both the environmental impact of a food product and its protein content provided to consumers. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to calculate the environmental impact of the selected food products, and a Life Cycle Protein Assessment (LCPA) was performed by accounting for the protein content along the supply chain. Although the GPF can be applied to all food chain products, this paper is focused on European anchovy-based products for indirect human consumption (fishmeal) and for direct human consumption (fresh, salted and canned anchovies). Moreover, the circular economy concept was applied considering the valorization of the anchovy residues generated during the canning process. These residues were used to produce fishmeal, which was employed in bass aquaculture. Hence, humans are finally consuming fish protein from the residues, closing the loop of the original product life cycle. More elaborated, multi-ingredient food products (salted and canned anchovy products), presented higher GPF values due to higher environmental impacts. Furthermore, the increase of food loss throughout their life cycle caused a decrease in the protein content. Regarding salted and canned products, the packaging was the main hotspot. The influence of the packaging was evaluated using the GPF, reaffirming that plastic was the best alternative. These results highlighted the importance of improving packaging materials in food products.

[1]  Ian Vázquez-Rowe,et al.  Life cycle assessment of European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) landed by purse seine vessels in northern Spain , 2018, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[2]  J. Aubin,et al.  Life cycle assessment (LCA) of two rearing techniques of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) , 2012 .

[3]  M Margallo,et al.  Life cycle assessment modelling of waste-to-energy incineration in Spain and Portugal , 2014, Waste management & research : the journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA.

[4]  U. Sonesson,et al.  Global food losses and food waste: extent, causes and prevention , 2011 .

[5]  S. van Berkum,et al.  Food systems and natural resources , 2016 .

[6]  Rosaria Viscecchia,et al.  Consumer purchasing behaviour towards fish and seafood products. Patterns and insights from a sample of international studies , 2015, Appetite.

[7]  H. Veisi,et al.  Life cycle assessment for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) production systems: a case study for Iran , 2015 .

[8]  I. Garcia-Herrero,et al.  Incorporating linear programing and life cycle thinking into environmental sustainability decision-making: a case study on anchovy canning industry , 2017, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy.

[9]  María Margallo,et al.  Life cycle assessment of technologies for partial dealcoholisation of wines , 2015 .

[10]  J. Aubin,et al.  Environmental life cycle assessment of seafood production: A case study of trawler catches in Tunisia. , 2018, The Science of the total environment.

[11]  Angel Avadí,et al.  Life cycle assessment of Ecuadorian processed tuna , 2015, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[12]  Per-Anders Hansson,et al.  Emissions from fuel combustion in Swedish cod fishery , 2003 .

[13]  Joël Aubin,et al.  Comparative environmental performance of artisanal and commercial feed use in Peruvian freshwater aquaculture , 2015 .

[14]  M. T. Moreira,et al.  Life cycle assessment of horse mackerel fisheries in Galicia (NW Spain): Comparative analysis of two major fishing methods , 2010 .

[15]  Pere Fullana,et al.  Introducing life cycle thinking to define best available techniques for products: Application to the anchovy canning industry , 2017 .

[16]  J. Parfitt,et al.  Food waste within food supply chains: quantification and potential for change to 2050 , 2010, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[17]  Atiq Uz Zaman,et al.  A comprehensive review of the development of zero waste management: lessons learned and guidelines , 2015 .

[18]  Serenella Sala,et al.  Current options for the valorization of food manufacturing waste: a review , 2014 .

[19]  P. Fréon,et al.  Environmental assessment of Peruvian anchoveta food products: is less refined better? , 2014, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[20]  Gumersindo Feijoo,et al.  Inclusion of discard assessment indicators in fisheries life cycle assessment studies. Expanding the use of fishery-specific impact categories , 2012, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[21]  Maria Teresa Moreira,et al.  Combined application of life cycle assessment and data envelopment analysis as a methodological approach for the assessment of fisheries , 2010 .

[22]  H. Westhoek,et al.  The price of protein: Review of land use and carbon footprints from life cycle assessments of animal food products and their substitutes , 2012 .

[23]  Gumersindo Feijoo,et al.  Edible Protein Energy Return on Investment Ratio (ep-EROI) for Spanish Seafood Products , 2014, AMBIO.

[24]  G. Feijoo,et al.  Revisiting the Life Cycle Assessment of mussels from a sectorial perspective , 2010 .

[25]  Reinout Heijungs,et al.  Identifying best existing practice for characterization modeling in life cycle impact assessment , 2012, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[26]  Gumersindo Feijoo,et al.  The role of consumer purchase and post-purchase decision-making in sustainable seafood consumption. A Spanish case study using carbon footprinting , 2013 .

[27]  J Laso,et al.  Waste management under a life cycle approach as a tool for a circular economy in the canned anchovy industry , 2016, Waste management & research : the journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA.

[28]  F Castells,et al.  Sensitivity analysis in a life cycle assessment of an aged red wine production from Catalonia, Spain. , 2016, The Science of the total environment.

[29]  Wfp,et al.  The State of Food Insecurity in the World , 2011 .

[30]  Gumersindo Feijoo,et al.  Estimating global discards and their potential reduction for the Galician fishing fleet (NW Spain) , 2011 .

[31]  Friederike Ziegler,et al.  Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of a Canned Sardine Product from Portugal , 2015 .

[32]  Maria Teresa Moreira,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of fresh and canned mussel processing and consumption in Galicia (NW Spain) , 2010 .

[33]  Maria Teresa Moreira,et al.  Environmental assessment of the Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) season in the Basque Country. Increasing the timeline delimitation in fishery LCA studies , 2011 .

[34]  Almudena Hospido,et al.  Environmental assessment of canned tuna manufacture with a life-cycle perspective , 2006 .

[35]  R. Heijungs,et al.  Life cycle assessment An operational guide to the ISO standards , 2001 .

[36]  María Margallo,et al.  Connecting wastes to resources for clean technologies in the chlor-alkali industry: a life cycle approach , 2017, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy.

[37]  A. Hospido,et al.  Life cycle environmental impacts of Spanish tuna fisheries , 2005 .

[38]  Pere Fullana,et al.  Environmental sustainability assessment in the process industry: A case study of waste-to-energy plants in Spain , 2014 .

[39]  Toshio Takeuchi,et al.  Evaluation of recycled food waste as a partial replacement of fishmeal in diets for the initial feeding of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus , 2009, Fisheries Science.

[40]  Gumersindo Feijoo,et al.  Benchmarking wastewater treatment plants under an eco-efficiency perspective. , 2016, The Science of the total environment.

[41]  Sonja Brodt,et al.  Comparing environmental impacts of regional and national-scale food supply chains: a case study of processed tomatoes. , 2013 .

[42]  Pere Fullana-i-Palmer,et al.  Introducing a new method for calculating the environmental credits of end-of-life material recovery in attributional LCA , 2015, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[43]  Jara Laso,et al.  When product diversification influences life cycle impact assessment: A case study of canned anchovy. , 2017, The Science of the total environment.

[44]  Almudena Hospido,et al.  Life cycle assessment of European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus) consumption. A case study for Galicia (NW Spain). , 2014, The Science of the total environment.

[45]  Pierre Fréon,et al.  Environmental assessment of the Peruvian industrial hake fishery with LCA , 2018, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[46]  Michela Gallo,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment from food to food: A case study of circular economy from cruise ships to aquaculture , 2015 .

[47]  Pierre Fréon,et al.  Life cycle assessment of three Peruvian fishmeal plants: Toward a cleaner production , 2017 .

[48]  Pietro Bartocci,et al.  Environmental impact of Sagrantino and Grechetto grapes cultivation for wine and vinegar production in central Italy , 2017 .

[49]  Almudena Hospido,et al.  Estimation of the carbon footprint of the Galician fishing activity (NW Spain). , 2010, Science of the Total Environment.

[50]  Gumersindo Feijoo,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of fresh hake fillets captured by the Galician fleet in the Northern Stock , 2011 .