Análise da ecoeficiência de processos numa indústria do setor alimentar

Paiva, Cristiano da Silva

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/9712

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Authors

Paiva, Cristiano da Silva

Advisor(s)

Gaspar, Marcelo Rudolfo Calvete

Serrano, Luís Manuel Ventura

Abstract(s)

From a sustainability point of view, ready meals can have several environmental benefits when compared to homemade food. The ability to carry out in an industrial plant the process of preparing large amounts of meals with optimized proportions of food, water and energy may be more environmentally and energetically efficient when compared with the resources used in the preparation of the same number of meals made at home in regular kitchen facilities. Nonetheless, the need for dedicated packaging to deliver ready meals to consumers is an additional feature that is not required when preparing homemade meals. Particularly, considering that the pre-cooked meal packages are usually based on single-use plastic containers, it is of key importance to understand the influence of such packaging on the total life cycle of ready-made meals. Thus, to address the environmental sustainability of these industrial food products, a dedicated Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) research was conducted to infer the impact of the packaging process on a well-established ready-made meal process. This case study allowed discussing the influence of plastic packaging on the total life cycle impact of ready meal food products, as well as other sustainability-driven solutions to develop and produce heathier and more sustainable ready-meals. The aim of this work is also to use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as a tool to assess and discuss the impact of the plastic packaging impact on the total life cycle impact of ready meals food products. To support this purpose, a case study was developed based in one product of this sector, a traditional soup based on cooked beans and potatoes and several pork meat cuts, produced by a local food industry company, with more than 40 years of production. After inventorying and analyzing the resulting LCI data, obtained from a cradle to gate perspective, healthier, more sustainable, and eco-efficient solutions were developed and proposed to the market.