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

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.