Abstract
Purpose
The environmental impacts of breeding industries have been broadly studied and compared. However, environmental research on the rex rabbit breeding industry is scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the environmental impacts of two rex rabbit industry chains and verify which one has better environmental benefits, provide a scientific reference for the construction of a circular industry chain, and promote sustainable development of rex rabbit breeding and related industries.
Methods
Two different rex rabbit industry chains were considered: scenario 1 (a traditional industry chain, including feed cultivation, feed processing, rex rabbit breeding, and slaughtering stages); and scenario 2 (a circular industry chain, including feed cultivation, feed processing, rex rabbit breeding, slaughtering, manure treatment, and biogas power generation stages). A comparative study was performed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The functional unit of this study was an average rabbit during 140 days of breeding. A transparent cradle-to-gate life cycle inventory of the two scenarios was provided through the field investigation of a rex rabbit enterprise in China, and SimaPro8.0.4 software was used to conduct the comparative LCA. The CML 2001-Nov.2010 method was used for characterization and normalization of the environmental impacts.
Results and Discussion
The environmental performance of S2 was better than that of S1 with a significant reduction in each impact category, except for acidification potential (AP). Terrestric ecotoxicity potential (TETP) and freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity potential (FAETP) were the primary environmental impact categories for S1, mainly because of electricity and fertilizer consumption. TETP and FAETP of S2, when compared with S1, were reduced by 93.7% and 91.6%, respectively. AP was the primary environmental impact category for S2. The largest contributor to each impact category was found in the feed cultivation stage; however, most of the impact categories of the feed cultivation stage were reduced in S2 when compared with S1, mainly because of the extension of the industry chain and reuse of byproducts of the manure treatment stage.
Conclusions
Comparative LCA of the two scenarios confirmed the environmental feasibility and benefits of the circular rex rabbit industry chain. By establishing the circular industry chain instead of the traditional industry chain and increasing the waste reuse and recycling to generate clean energy and reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers, we can not only reduce the overall environmental impacts but also increase the environmental benefits of the rex rabbit industry chain.
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Data availability statement
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary material.
Change history
08 April 2022
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02045-w
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the relevant staff of the rex rabbit breeding enterprise for their contributions to this study.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (2017YFC0506701); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71964026); the Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (2019BS07003); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21767019); and the Guidance Program of Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (21800–5203401).
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Wang, H., Liu, J., Li, J. et al. Comparative life cycle assessment of rex rabbit breeding industry chains: benefits of a circular industry chain. Int J Life Cycle Assess 27, 366–379 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02036-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02036-x