title: Environmental assessment of the entire pork value chain in Catalonia - A strategy to work towards Circular Economy.
abstract: Pork industry in Catalonia plays a foremost and representative role in the Spanish pork sector. Beyond the economic benefits, conventional practices in the pork industry also imply a number of environmental impacts that need to be dealt with. In this context, the environmental performance of traditional linear pork chain in Catalonia was evaluated through a LCA approach. The outcomes of the analysis showed that both fodder production and transport activities were identified as the critical stages of the system. Accordingly, alternative schemes based on circular economy principles were proposed and potential environmental credits were estimated. Within this framework, comparative results highlighted the advantages of moving towards a closing loop production system, where resource efficiency and waste valorisation were prioritised over final disposal options.
authors.affiliation: Departament of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Electronic address: isabel.noya@usc.es.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Noya
authors.affiliation: Cetaqua, Centro Tecnológico del Agua, Cornellà de Llobregat, 08940 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Aldea
authors.affiliation: Departament of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: González-García
authors.affiliation: Inèdit Innovació SL, Research Park of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (PRUAB), Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193 Barcelona, Spain; Sostenipra (ICTA-IRTA-Inèdit), Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) & Department of Chemical Engineering, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: M Gasol
authors.affiliation: Departament of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: María Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Cetaqua, Centro Tecnológico del Agua, Cornellà de Llobregat, 08940 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Amores
authors.affiliation: Cetaqua, Centro Tecnológico del Agua, Cornellà de Llobregat, 08940 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Desirée
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marín
authors.affiliation: Inèdit Innovació SL, Research Park of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (PRUAB), Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193 Barcelona, Spain; Sostenipra (ICTA-IRTA-Inèdit), Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) & Department of Chemical Engineering, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boschmonart-Rives
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000191:economics*; D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D019649:Food Industry / Q000191:economics*; D000069466:Red Meat; D013030:Spain; D013552:Swine
keywords: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); Pork sector; Resources efficiency; Supply chain; Sustainability