Abstract
PurposePlant-based alternatives to dairy milk have grown in popularity over the last decade. Almond milk comprises the largest share of plant-based milk in the US market and, as with so many food products, stakeholders in the supply chain are increasingly interested in understanding the environmental impacts of its production, particularly its carbon footprint and water consumption. This study undertakes a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a California unsweetened almond milk.MethodsThe scope of this LCA includes the production of almond milk in primary packaging at the factory gate. California produces all US almonds, which are grown under irrigated conditions. Spatially resolved modeling of almond cultivation and primary data collection from one almond milk supply chain were used to develop the LCA model. While the environmental indicators of greatest interest are global warming potential (GWP) and freshwater consumption (FWC), additional impact categories from US EPA’s TRACI assessment method are also calculated. Co-products are accounted for using economic allocation, but mass-based allocation and displacement are also tested to understand the effect of co-product allocation choices on results.Results and discussionThe GWP and FWC of one 48 oz. (1.42 L) bottle of unsweetened almond milk are 0.71 kg CO2e and 175 kg of water. A total of 0.39 kg CO2e (or 55%) of the GWP is attributable to the almond milk, with the remainder attributable to packaging. Almond cultivation alone is responsible for 95% of the FWC (167 kg H2O), because of irrigation water demand. Total primary energy consumption (TPE) is estimated at 14.8 MJ. The 48 oz. (1.42 L) PET bottle containing the almond milk is the single largest contributor to TPE (42%) and GWP (35%). Using recycled PET instead of virgin PET for the bottle considerably reduces all impact indicators except for eutrophication potential.ConclusionsFor the supply chain studied here, packaging choices provide the most immediate opportunities for reducing impacts related to GWP and TPE, but would not result in a significant reduction in FWC because irrigation water for almond cultivation is the dominant consumer. To provide context for interpretation, average US dairy milk appears to have about 4.5 times the GWP and 1.8 times the FWC of the studied almond milk on a volumetric basis.
Highlights
IntroductionStakeholders across the food production supply chain are growing more interested in understanding the environmental impacts of food choices
Responsible editor: Greg ThomaElectronic supplementary material The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Stakeholders across the food production supply chain are growing more interested in understanding the environmental impacts of food choices
The goal of this study is to develop a process-based attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) to estimate the environmental impacts associated with unsweetened almond milk production from cradle-tofacility gate
Summary
Stakeholders across the food production supply chain are growing more interested in understanding the environmental impacts of food choices. Plant-based diets are being encouraged as environmentally preferable (e.g., Poore and Nemecek 2019; Hallström et al 2015; Westhoek et al 2014; Tilman and Clark 2014). The dairy alternatives market, including plant-based milks, is a rapidly growing segment of plant-based food alternatives; it is projected to grow by more than USD 12 billion between 2018 and 2023, with almond-based dairy alternatives constituting the fastest growing sector (PRNewswire 2019). California-grown almonds constitute about 80% of the world’s commercial almond production (CDFA 2017a). Almond cultivation occupies about 1% of California’s total
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