RTA, with the participation of companies in the cattle sector, calculates the environmental footprint of meat and milk production in Catalonia, from breeding to the distribution of products in sales outlets, with the aim of identifying opportunities for improvement.

The calculations are based on an European Commission methodology for measuring the environmental performance of products, which will soon be the basis for eco-labelling in Europe.

During the project, we analysed data on the consumption of resources used and emissions produced by two intensive fattening calf farms belonging to Grupo Viñas S.A. and three dairies of the cooperative Ganaderos del Baix Empordà, SCCL, which produces milk for Llet Nostra.

Many companies in the cattle sector, aware of the demands of society, are becoming increasingly aware of the need to measure the impact of their activity and reduce it. "To know how to improve, we first need to know where we are starting from, and until now we didn't have this picture", explains Guillem de Planell, head of Quality at Grupo Viñas S.A..

This diagnosis is known as the environmental footprint generated by all the components of the cycle to reach a packaged cut of meat or a carton of milk. The study concludes that most of the environmental impacts occur at the origin of the raw materials for feed and on the farm itself. To a lesser extent, they occur at the slaughterhouse, transport, storage, and packaging stages, among others.

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