Environmental sustainability assessment of buffalo mozzarella cheese production chain: A scenario analysis

The present paper contributes to improve knowledge about the environmental impact of the production chain of buffalo mozzarella, a topic little studied in literature. The analysis involved 6 farms located in North-Eastern Italy, specialized in buffalo milk production, and one dairy plant, where the whole milk was processed in mozzarella cheese. A “from cradle to plant gate” Life Cycle Assessment approach was used, considering, at farm level, a MILK Scenario, that reflected the real situation of farms, and a BEEF Scenario, that included buffalo beef production. Two further scenarios were considered at plant level: MOZZARELLA Scenario, that considered the mozzarella production only, and CHEESE Scenario, that considered the production of ricotta and ripened cheese in addition to mozzarella cheese. Three allocation methods were performed: no-allocation, physical allocation and economic allocation. 1 kg of fat and protein corrected milk and 1 kg of packaged mozzarella cheese were used as functional units. Within the MOZZARELLA Scenario, Global Warming Potential (GWP) was 33.9, 28.9 and 32.7 kg CO2eq, Acidification Potential (ACP) was 247.9, 211.4 and 238.7 g SO2eq, and Eutrophication Potential (EUP) was 62.2, 53.0 and 59.9 g PO4 3eq per kg of mozzarella cheese, performed with no-allocation, physical allocation and economic allocation, respectively. Within the CHEESE Scenario, GWP was 36.7, 27.9 and 33.2 kg CO2eq, ACP was 267.9, 203.6 and 242.8 g SO2eq, EUP was 67.2, 51.1 and 60.9 g PO4 3-eq per kg of mozzarella cheese, performed with no-allocation, physical allocation and economic allocation, respectively. GWP, ACP, and EUP of mozzarella cheese derived mainly by the emissions from milk production processes, were 95%, 92%, 81%, respectively. Therefore, the main strategy for reducing the emission is to improve the farm efficiency in terms of milk production. At plant level, the limited or no reduction of the emissions obtained with the economic allocation pointed out the necessity of a proper economic exploitation of alternative products in order to reduce the environmental impact of the principal one.