SPECIAL STORY 44 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE June 2023 of feed ingredients consumed by the EU feed industry from 2009 to 2013. Among the impact categories covered by PEF results, the toxicity-related ones (terrestrial, freshwater and marine) were excluded from the LCA, due to the lower robustness of ecotoxicity models. However, applicants who want to calculate the PEF profile of their product in compliance with PEFCR requirements are encouraged to include the characterized results for all impact categories (including toxicity). This methodology was considered the basis for the Global Feed Lifecycle Assessment Institute (GFLI), which covers a wider geographical context and impact categories. Nowadays, GFLI database has become the leading global reference for public access datasets for all major feed ingredients used in compound feed production. Most of LCA initiatives provided solid information on plant- and animal-based feed ingredients. However, for feed additives such as minerals, enzymes, vitamins or amino acids, the model of their production process is still being improved. It is expected that LEAP will develop in the near future recommendations on how to model the production of these particular feed ingredients, which may have a significant contribution to some environmental impacts although they are incorporated at a very low level in the diet. FEED INDUSTRY’S ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT The feed industry is committed to contributing to the generation of high-quality data on feed additives. In line with this, an LCA was developed for the potentiated zinc source named HiZox® and a monovalent copper source named CoRouge® (Animine, France). To represent the contribution of trace mineral sources on EF of complete feed, a diet based on the composition of the virtual feed proposed by PEFCR was created. The results show that cereals and oilseeds (48% and 28% of total feed composition, respectively) contribute the most to EF on climate change, acidification and eutrophication, energy demand, and terrestrial ecotoxicity, due to the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and transportation network for their production (Figure 2). Even if trace minerals represented only 0.78% of total feed ingredients consumed in Europe, they showed the highest contribution to freshwater and marine ecotoxicity, due to their high toxicity potential when emitted into soils and waters, and to metal depletion, due to the fact that they are non-renewable resources. This high contribution demonstrates the importance of the sustainable use of trace minerals in terms of source and dose used in animal nutrition. The recent LCA performed by Animine for its trace mineral sources showed that the carbon footprint (g 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Climate change Terrestrial acidification Freshwater eutrophication Cumulative energy demand Terrestrial ecotoxicity Freshwater ecotoxicity Marine ecotoxicity Metal depletion Cereals Oilseed meals Vegetable oils Trace minerals Amino acids Vitamins Figure 2. Contribution of feed ingredients to environmental footprint.
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