IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i22p9811-d1518162.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the Overall Sustainability Performance of the Meat Processing Industry Before and After Wastewater Valorization Interventions: A Comparative Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Angeliki Petridi

    (Laboratory of Process Analysis and Design, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, 157 80 Athens, Greece)

  • Dimitra-Nektaria Fragkouli

    (DIGNITY Private Company, 30-32 Leoforos Alexandrou Papagou, Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece)

  • Laura Mejias

    (BETA Tech. Center (TECNIO Network), University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), Carretera de Roda 70, 08500 Vic, Spain)

  • Lidia Paredes

    (BETA Tech. Center (TECNIO Network), University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), Carretera de Roda 70, 08500 Vic, Spain)

  • Miquel Bistue

    (BETA Tech. Center (TECNIO Network), University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), Carretera de Roda 70, 08500 Vic, Spain
    Matadero Frigorífico del Cardoner S.A. (Mafrica), Paratge Can Canals Nou, s/n, 08250 Sant Joan de Vilatorrada, Spain)

  • Christos Boukouvalas

    (Laboratory of Process Analysis and Design, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, 157 80 Athens, Greece)

  • Tryfon Kekes

    (Laboratory of Process Analysis and Design, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, 157 80 Athens, Greece)

  • Magdalini Krokida

    (Laboratory of Process Analysis and Design, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechneiou 9, 157 80 Athens, Greece)

  • Sofia Papadaki

    (DIGNITY Private Company, 30-32 Leoforos Alexandrou Papagou, Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece)

Abstract

The meat processing industry is rapidly growing, aiming to enhance the accessibility and affordability of meat products. However, this vital sector also presents significant environmental and social challenges alongside substantial waste management issues. Efforts to improve sustainability in this industry include introducing advanced waste treatment technologies. This study evaluates the overall sustainability of the meat processing industry by comparing the current waste treatment system with an advanced system incorporating improved technologies for water reuse, solid waste valorization, and energy production. We conducted environmental, social, and economic Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) using OpenLCA and the SOCA v2 database, with 1 kg of processed meat as the functional unit. The comparative analysis highlights significant improvements in the ‘50%’ scenario, where half of the wastewater undergoes advanced treatment. Environmental impacts decreased notably: Freshwater Eutrophication and Human Carcinogenic Toxicity by 25.9% and 31.5%, respectively, and Global Warming and Fossil Resource Scarcity S by 9.2% and 8.8%. Social risk indicators improved by 33.7% to 37.0%. The treatment system achieved a cost saving of EUR 0.00187 per kg of meat (EUR 63,152.70 annually), though these results are specific to this study and heavily dependent on the location and time period. Further analysis of four scenarios, including the baseline, demonstrated that increasing the proportion of wastewater treated by the new system improved environmental, social, and economic outcomes, with the 75% treatment scenario proving the most sustainable. Overall, the advanced treatment system significantly enhances sustainability in the meat industry, promoting a more environmentally, socially, and economically friendly waste management approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Angeliki Petridi & Dimitra-Nektaria Fragkouli & Laura Mejias & Lidia Paredes & Miquel Bistue & Christos Boukouvalas & Tryfon Kekes & Magdalini Krokida & Sofia Papadaki, 2024. "Assessing the Overall Sustainability Performance of the Meat Processing Industry Before and After Wastewater Valorization Interventions: A Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-28, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9811-:d:1518162
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9811/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9811/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kolstad, Ivar & Wiig, Arne, 2009. "Is Transparency the Key to Reducing Corruption in Resource-Rich Countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 521-532, March.
    2. Messagie, Maarten & Mertens, Jan & Oliveira, Luis & Rangaraju, Surendraprabu & Sanfelix, Javier & Coosemans, Thierry & Van Mierlo, Joeri & Macharis, Cathy, 2014. "The hourly life cycle carbon footprint of electricity generation in Belgium, bringing a temporal resolution in life cycle assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 469-476.
    3. KeChrist Obileke & Nwabunwanne Nwokolo & Golden Makaka & Patrick Mukumba & Helen Onyeaka, 2021. "Anaerobic digestion: Technology for biogas production as a source of renewable energy—A review," Energy & Environment, , vol. 32(2), pages 191-225, March.
    4. Malte Meinshausen & Nicolai Meinshausen & William Hare & Sarah C. B. Raper & Katja Frieler & Reto Knutti & David J. Frame & Myles R. Allen, 2009. "Greenhouse-gas emission targets for limiting global warming to 2 °C," Nature, Nature, vol. 458(7242), pages 1158-1162, April.
    5. Alessio Castagnoli & Serena Falcioni & Eleftherios Touloupakis & Francesco Pasciucco & Erika Pasciucco & Alessandro Michelotti & Renato Iannelli & Isabella Pecorini, 2024. "Influence of Aeration Rate on Uncoupled Fed Mixed Microbial Cultures for Polyhydroxybutyrate Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-13, April.
    6. Banach, J.L. & Hoffmans, Y. & Appelman, W.A.J. & van Bokhorst-van de Veen, H. & van Asselt, E.D., 2021. "Application of water disinfection technologies for agricultural waters," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    7. Maria Cristina Collivignarelli & Alessandro Abbà & Marco Carnevale Miino & Francesca Maria Caccamo & Vincenzo Torretta & Elena Cristina Rada & Sabrina Sorlini, 2020. "Disinfection of Wastewater by UV-Based Treatment for Reuse in a Circular Economy Perspective. Where Are We at?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-24, December.
    8. Jin, Yiying & Chen, Ting & Chen, Xin & Yu, Zhixin, 2015. "Life-cycle assessment of energy consumption and environmental impact of an integrated food waste-based biogas plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 227-236.
    9. Pierie, F. & Bekkering, J. & Benders, R.M.J. & van Gemert, W.J.Th. & Moll, H.C., 2016. "A new approach for measuring the environmental sustainability of renewable energy production systems: Focused on the modelling of green gas production pathways," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 131-138.
    10. Buchholz, Thomas & Gunn, John S. & Saah, David S., 2017. "Greenhouse gas emissions of local wood pellet heat from northeastern US forests," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 483-491.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bacenetti, Jacopo & Sala, Cesare & Fusi, Alessandra & Fiala, Marco, 2016. "Agricultural anaerobic digestion plants: What LCA studies pointed out and what can be done to make them more environmentally sustainable," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 669-686.
    2. Chen, Ting & Shen, Dongsheng & Jin, Yiying & Li, Hailong & Yu, Zhixin & Feng, Huajun & Long, Yuyang & Yin, Jun, 2017. "Comprehensive evaluation of environ-economic benefits of anaerobic digestion technology in an integrated food waste-based methane plant using a fuzzy mathematical model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 666-677.
    3. Huang, Yi & Yi, Qun & Wei, Guo-qiang & Kang, Jing-xian & Li, Wen-ying & Feng, Jie & Xie, Ke-chang, 2018. "Energy use, greenhouse gases emission and cost effectiveness of an integrated high– and low–temperature Fisher–Tropsch synthesis plant from a lifecycle viewpoint," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1009-1019.
    4. Frank Pierie & Austin Dsouza & Christian E. J. Van Someren & René M. J. Benders & Wim J. Th. Van Gemert & Henri C. Moll, 2017. "Improving the Sustainability of Farming Practices through the Use of a Symbiotic Approach for Anaerobic Digestion and Digestate Processing," Resources, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-23, September.
    5. Pierie, F. & Benders, R.M.J. & Bekkering, J. & van Gemert, W.J.Th. & Moll, H.C., 2016. "Lessons from spatial and environmental assessment of energy potentials for Anaerobic Digestion production systems applied to the Netherlands," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 233-244.
    6. Fankhauser, Samuel & Hepburn, Cameron, 2010. "Designing carbon markets. Part I: Carbon markets in time," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 4363-4370, August.
    7. van den Bergh, J.C.J.M. & Botzen, W.J.W., 2015. "Monetary valuation of the social cost of CO2 emissions: A critical survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 33-46.
    8. Busola D. Akintayo & Oluwafemi E. Ige & Olubayo M. Babatunde & Oludolapo A. Olanrewaju, 2023. "Evaluation and Prioritization of Power-Generating Systems Using a Life Cycle Assessment and a Multicriteria Decision-Making Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-18, September.
    9. Simon Levin & Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2021. "On the Coevolution of Economic and Ecological Systems," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 355-377, October.
    10. Zhuang, Rui & Wang, Xiaonan & Guo, Miao & Zhao, Yingru & El-Farra, Nael H. & Palazoglu, Ahmet, 2020. "Waste-to-hydrogen: Recycling HCl to produce H2 and Cl2," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    11. Kriegler, Elmar, 2011. "Comment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 594-596, July.
    12. Sam Fankhauser & Cameron Hepburn, 2009. "Carbon markets in space and time," GRI Working Papers 3, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    13. Weth, Mark A. & Baltzer, Markus & Bertram, Christoph & Hilaire, Jérôme & Johnston, Craig, 2024. "The scenario-based equity price impact induced by greenhouse gas emissions," Discussion Papers 30/2024, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    14. van der Ploeg, Frederick & Rezai, Armon, 2017. "Cumulative emissions, unburnable fossil fuel, and the optimal carbon tax," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 216-222.
    15. Tomas Bonavia & Josué Brox-Ponce, 2018. "Shame in decision making under risk conditions: Understanding the effect of transparency," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, February.
    16. Hu, Juncheng, 2021. "Do facilitation payments affect earnings management? Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    17. Waldemar Karpa & Antonio Grginović, 2021. "(Not So) Stranded: The Case of Coal in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-16, December.
    18. Altayib, Khalid & Dincer, Ibrahim, 2022. "Development of an integrated hydropower system with hydrogen and methanol production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    19. Colo, Philippe, 2021. "Cassandra's Curse: A Second Tragedy of the Commons," MPRA Paper 110878, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Audoly, Richard & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien & Guivarch, Céline & Pfeiffer, Alexander, 2018. "Pathways toward zero-carbon electricity required for climate stabilization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 884-901.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9811-:d:1518162. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.