New Research Offers Roadmap to Lower Emissions and Costs in Vegan Burger Supply Chains

A recent study published in Sustainability (MDPI) evaluated the environmental and economic impacts of legume-based vegan burgers using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC). The base case scenario revealed that imported ingredients and conventional packaging materials resulted in a carbon footprint of 1.30 kg CO2 equivalent and a total life cycle cost of EUR 2.43 for two vegan patties. Transportation emissions from sourcing ingredients like pea protein played a significant role in the product’s environmental burden, along with the use of materials like polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

To reduce the environmental footprint, the study explored alternative scenarios with a focus on local ingredient sourcing and sustainable packaging materials like bio-based polyethylene (Bio-PE). The optimized scenario, utilizing closer ingredient sourcing and switching to Bio-PE, led to a 60% reduction in the carbon footprint and a slight decrease in production costs. Key findings indicated that packaging changes had the most significant impact on sustainability, with Bio-PE showcasing environmental benefits compared to fossil-based plastics like PET. The research suggests that optimizing ingredient sourcing and packaging materials can effectively improve the sustainability and economic performance of vegan burger production, offering both environmental benefits and potential cost savings for the plant-based food industry.