Abstract
Modern technology and life-style advancements have increased the demand for clean water. Based on this trend it is expected that our water resources will be under stress leading to a high probability of scarcity. This study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of selected traditional food manufacturing products namely: tempe, lemang, noodle laksam, fish crackers and salted fish in Malaysia. The cradle-to-gate approach on water footprint assessment (WFA) of these selected traditional food products was carried out using Water Footprint Network (WFN) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Freshwater eutrophication (FEP), marine eutrophication (MEP), freshwater ecotoxicity (FETP), marine ecotoxicity (METP) and water consumption (WCP), LCA were investigated using ReCiPe 2016 methodology. Water footprint accounting of blue water footprint (WFblue), green water footprint (WFgreen) and grey water footprint (WFgrey) were established in this study. It was found that total water footprint for lemang production was highest at 3862.13 m3/ton. The lowest total water footprint was found to be fish cracker production at 135.88 m3/ton. Blue water scarcity (WSblue) and water pollution level (WPL) of these selected food products were also determined to identify the environmental hotspots. Results in this study showed that the WSblue and WPL of these selected food products did not exceed 1%, which is considered sustainable. Based on midpoint approach adopted in this study, the characterization factors for FEP, MEP, FETP, METP and WCP on these selected food products were evaluated. It is recommended that alternative ingredients or product processes be designed in order to produce more sustainable lemang.
Highlights
Water scarcity is one of the key issues worldwide
The results show that cultivation of rice in intensive fields was the major cause of impact, which is the same result as the past study on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of pasta production—a similar product to LS—which showed that the cultivation of wheat in intensive fields was the main contributor of FETP [38]
Tsmhealslmesat lcloensttrciobnuttroirbutotoWr CtoPWwCasPtwheasprtohdeupcrtoiodnuoctfioTnP oatf 2T.P01a4t52m.0134. 5Pmro3d.uPcrtoiodnucotfioTnPowf TasPtwheasmtahienmcoanintrcibounttiroibnuttoioWn CtoPWatC2P.0a1tm2.30.1Emle3c. tErlieccittyripcirtoydpurcotdiouncthioadn thhaedlothweelsotwWesCtPWaCt 1P.7a5t ×1.7150−×51m0−35.m3. This is the first study presenting the findings from water footprint assessment (WFA) and LCA on five traditional food productions in Malaysia, a study which previously did not exist in the literature
Summary
A large amount of water is used and polluted by human activities. Large volumes of water are consumed in agriculture, industry and domestically along with their respective pollutants [1,2]. The processes have placed increasing burdens on the environment through water pollution and waste products. The food market is concerned with food sustainability with the growing number of consumers demanding licensed sustainable agricultural products. Results of the study established by Muhammad-Muaz and Marlia (2015) showed that total WF for growing oil palm is 243 m3/ton [5]. These suggest that there is a need to reduce WF and its impact to the environment of food products
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