Food, Defecation and Environment: A Glance to Improve the Impact (Part 2)

Life Cycle Analysis in Dog and Cat Ownership and the Defecation Production

As we mentioned in the article in the last issue, we provide further information about this tool, which has become an interdisciplinary research field with great potential for scientific and technological production. The Brazilian LCA has been spread in the academic area, industries, and the government, which supports the green label program and the Environmental Product Declaration. In Brazil, among the studies applying the Life Cycle Analysis are those on agriculture, livestock, and product development (Souza et al. 2017).
 

Even though in Brazil there has been increasing research about LCA use and its implementation in companies during the last few years, there is still a big field of study and opportunities to be explored. For example, regional environmental impacts related to dogs and cats' environmental footprints and their effects have not been analyzed with this approach.
 

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Feed but Do Not Forget – Maintaining the Environment

Costa et al. (2024) used the LCA to evaluate dry food impact in Brazil considering the following stages: food manufacturing, packaging production, and product distribution (from the industry to the sales process). They found that food formulation provides almost 70% of the available impact (Figure 2), which mainly contributed to the impact of soil and marine eutrophication, acidification, particulate material, and climate change —that represents 80% of the total environmental impact of raw material selection (Figure 3). LCA activities involving product consumption were not studied.
 

Figure 2: Contribution (percentage) of each stage in pet food manufacturing and environmental impacts. Published by Costa et al. (2024).
 

Figure 3: Contribution of the raw materials selection impact category. Published by Costa et al. (2024).
 

Only one European study investigated the shelf-life end of pet waste from the LCA perspective. Yavor et al. (2020) analyzed three points of view (Figure 4) and discovered that the urine and feces of an average dog have a potential climate change and freshwater eutrophication of 8,200 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent and 5 kg of phosphorus equivalent respectively. For 13 years, urine (≅ 44%) and feces (≅ 43%) have mainly contributed to freshwater eutrophication (caused by phosphorus contained in feces) and significantly in ecotoxicity (≅50%). 
 

The produced waste is just a factor in the food use stage and does not define sustainability in pet ownership. Generally, diet effects exceed the other stages. However, quantifying the flows of this substage adequately can complement the existing regional information and identify possibilities or technologies for the environmental footprint cycle of dogs and cats, especially nitrogenated waste and potentially toxic nutrients in feces and urine.
 

Figure 4. Dogs' defecation system to the shelf-life end of waste. Published by Yavor et al. (2020).
 

Advantages and Challenges of the LCA

Life Cycle Analysis is a methodology used to evaluate products and services environmental impact, from manufacturing to elimination. It is useful since it analyzes all the stages in the product life cycle integrally. This approach comprises systems at different levels and regions throughout flow evaluation, which enter and leave the system. Its results can combine other methodologies to better define system sustainability; it can be used in complex environmental analysis for objective decision-making and to formulate plans that satisfy sustainable development needs.
 

Using the LCA has the potential to:

• Identify critical points and the impacts of a process, product, or service.
• Enhance or develop products and services.
• Optimize mechanical systems and energy recovery. 
• Compare equivalent products.
• Define criteria for ecological labels.
• Support the creation of politics of sustainability. 
• Provide clear information to consumers.
• Manage and preserve natural resources.
   

These characteristics can be extremely interesting to characterize dog and cat waste, towards sustainability. However, here are some challenges and limitations to consider:

• The number of people and experienced professionals using this methodology is still minimal. 
   
• There are no accurate and solid regional inventories about the product's life cycle, especially in Brazil. Databases are essential to save time and resources in LCA study. 
   
• This shortage is a problem as Brazil has diverse production, agriculture practices, weather, and technology. Using a specific database from Brazil would help to carry out accurate and adequate research for more sustainable production. Another challenge is to follow general rules for product characterization, such as Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (FEDIAF, 2018) that ensure standardized studies and suitable results.
   
  

Final Thoughts

So far, impacts generated by pet ownership have not been defined in Brazil. The LCA focus can help to characterize them, predict harmful effects, minimize the short/long-term impact, and reach global and sustainable goals. However, the scientific data on cat and dog ownership used by this approach is still lacking. 
 

Defecation and its accumulative effects are related to pet ownership, being a substage in food usage which also must be studied for its environmental impact. Understanding the impact helps evaluate pet possession in an integrated way. Brazil has unique characteristics and highlights the importance of studying and characterizing local impacts. Research can offer new insights as well as improve awareness and promote pro-environmental behavior in society and industries, helping the environment and sustainability in dog and cat ownership, such important species for human beings.
 

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By Jéssyka Laura Galdino Costa, Ricardo Souza Vasconcellos (Universidad Estatal de Maringá - Brazil), Fernando José González González (Universidad de la Salle - Colombia)

Source: All Pet Food Magazine