Life Cycle Assessment of the Pork Value Chain in Germany - Case Study of a German Slaughterhouse

The production of meat presents a significant global environmental challenge [1]. Therefore, it is
crucial to examine the environmental impacts specifically related to pork, which is the most widely
consumed meat globally [2]. To comprehensively assess the environmental impact, it is essential to
closely examine the complete value chain, including factory farming, slaughter, processing, and
distribution. The SPECK project aims to address this aspect by conducting a life cycle assessment of
various value chain stages in pork production in Germany, which is ranked as the fourth-largest pork
producer [3]. This case study focuses on the production of pork halves at a slaughterhouse and aims
to determine the underlying environmental impacts. The slaughterhouse primarily raises organic
animals, primarily pigs but also includes bovine and sheep. The calculation is based on the functional
unit of 1kg carcass weight and is processed with the help of the open-source software OpenLCA. The
results of the chosen categories Global Warming, Acidification, and Eutrophication of the method
CML baseline are mostly consistent with literature findings [4] [5] [6]. ... mehrRecognizable is the enormous
impact of the specific waste stream of slaughterhouse waste in every impact category’s outcome.
Therefore it is important to examine the underlying data and interpret them in alignment with the
special use case. Looking at the categories GWP and Acidification, heat and power production and
use embody another considerable impact. To make these influences more ecologically acceptable
renewable energy production could be an option for improvement.