Life Cycle Assessment

As the world seeks sustainable food and fibre systems, measuring and reporting on environmental impacts has never been more critical. AgResearch’s world-class Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) team has played a pivotal role for nearly twenty years, delivering research to prove the efficiency and sustainability of food production in New Zealand, and around the world.

What is LCA?

LCA is an internationally recognised method that takes a ‘bird’s-eye view’ of livestock and food production and the impact of that on the environment. A complex tool, it draws on huge databases and local information to analyse resource use and environmental emissions associated with a product or system. It also accounts for the impacts from the extraction of raw material and all production inputs. LCA covers the full life cycle of a product, from raw material extraction to disposal - including processing, transport, retail, consumer, and waste.

LCA is wider than just greenhouse gases. AgResearch Senior Scientist Dr Andre Mazzetto uses the analogy of writing a story to explain LCA.

“The people that work with LCA are the storytellers, and the food product is the main character. We need to understand where the product comes from, how it is produced, the main inputs for the production, how it is used, how it is distributed etc. This way, we can tell the story, and based on all this information, we calculate the product's environmental burdens, such as the carbon footprint.”

Results are expressed per kilogram of a product and so it is often used to help make decisions in choice of food, goods or systems to minimise our impacts on the environment and maintain global market access.

LCA accounts for the environmental impacts in terms of water quality, air quality, other human-health indicators, the resource use, such as the depletion of fossil energy and resources.

Dr Stewart Ledgard, AgResearch Principal Scientist

Environmental impact

LCA research provides accurate measurements to debunk myths or challenge assumptions about exported products, including those that sit behind a concept such as ‘food miles’. Even accounting for freight to overseas markets, New Zealand products often stack up favourably by environmental impact, given the way they are produced.

There has been a significant increase in global awareness and concern about environmental issues such as climate change, resource depletion, and pollution. Governments, businesses, and consumers are now more conscious of the environmental impact of products and processes, making LCA a crucial service for assessing and mitigating these impacts.

Consumers are interested in knowing more about their impact on the environment, and producers understand that it is important to be transparent and provide an environmental assessment that is accurate and certified.

LCA allows for the quantification and comparison of environmental impacts, helping stakeholders identify "hotspots" or critical stages in the life cycle where improvements can be made to reduce overall environmental impact.

Regulatory requirements

The regulatory landscape has evolved, with many countries implementing stricter environmental regulations and standards. LCA provides a systematic approach for businesses to comply with regulations, manage risks, and demonstrate environmental responsibility.

By considering the entire life cycle, LCA promotes a more holistic and sustainable approach to agricultural production, guiding decision-makers toward practices that minimise resource use, pollution, and overall environmental degradation associated with food and bio-based product production.

This analysis is valuable for policymakers, producers, and consumers seeking to make informed choices that balance agricultural productivity with environmental sustainability.

Evolving methodology

Currently, the world's environmental focus is primarily on climate change and environmental impacts, but work is already underway on new supplementary methodology relating to ecosystem quality, toxicity, biodiversity, human health and more.

The methodology will continually be in development, allowing it to be applied to an increasingly diverse set of sectors.

LCA in action

Advances in technology have made LCA more accessible and cost-effective. Improved data collection methods and modelling techniques have contributed to the wider adoption of LCA across different industries.

LCA has been applied to farms across New Zealand and is used by dairy companies such as Fonterra, and red meat producers such as Silver Fern Farms. AgResearch's LCA platform is updated regularly to account for changes in methodology internationally and is aligned to the New Zealand greenhouse-gas inventory.