Water and carbon footprint of selected dairy products: A case study in Catalonia

This study assesses the LCA-based Water Footprint (WF) and Carbon Footprint (CF) of various types of yoghurts in the Spanish dairy plant of La Fageda. Primary data have been used to allocate impacts to the core processing stages. . The total amount of water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions for the production of 1 kg of yoghurt in La Fageda plant are 204 L H2O and 1.94 kg CO2eq respectively. The results indicated that raw milk and milk-based ingredients are the main contributors to all impact categories examined; their contribution to CO2eq ranged from 80 to 96%. Energy consumption and packaging materials have significant contribution to freshwater ecotoxicity, acidification and global warming potential (GWP) impact categories ranging from 30 to 99% when raw milk is excluded from the analysis. In terms of the direct impacts of the plant, Cleaning in Place (CIP) and cleaning operations are responsible for 70% of the water requirements, while refrigerators, pasteurisation and packaging account for 70% of the energy consumption in the facility. The water and carbon footprint varies depending on the production process and the region. The sensitivity analysis illustrates that high precipitation and application of different techniques for raw milk production increases the contribution of the direct impacts of the plant from 2% to 15% in terms of water use. [Display omitted] •Assessment of water and carbon footprint of various types of yoghurts has been carried out.•Hot-spots and environmental burdens associated to processing stages are identified.•Raw milk and milk-based ingredients are the main contributors to all impact categories.