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Development of Eco-efficiency Indicators to Assess the Environmental Performance of the Canadian Food and Beverage Industry

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Food Engineering Interfaces

Part of the book series: Food Engineering Series ((FSES))

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Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of the approach used by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) to conduct a comprehensive national assessment on key environmental issues the Canadian Food and Beverage Industry (FBI) faces. It comprises the development and validation of appropriate methodologies, using statistical survey data as well as a first national report. Since the time trend is not yet available, results are discussed with the intent of differentiating FBI sectors.

The Canadian FBI sector uses a significant amount of energy: close to 4% of the energy used by the Canadian manufacturing industry as a whole. The consumption of this energy is responsible for most of the FBI’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In 2005, the FBI was responsible for nearly 20% of the total water used by all Canadian manufacturing industries. Of this water intake (i.e., volume of water withdrawn), the FBI discharges 77% and recirculates 4%. The FBI transforms raw agricultural commodities or ingredients into semi-prepared and consumer-ready food and beverage products that have to be packaged adequately to ensure they can reach consumers without losing their physical and hygienic integrity and quality attributes, as well as to convey consumer and manufacturer information. The Packaging Use Indicator (PUI) first results reported here are sectorial measures for 2002 and provide a baseline for future reference.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    CIEEDAC has developed and maintains a comprehensive database on energy, and GHG from information supplied by Natural Resources Canada, and is produced by Statistics Canada, among others. It should be noted there are some discrepancies in official publications by Statistics Canada or Environment Canada (for more information on issues concerning energy accounting and GHG calculations, see Nyboer 2008a, b).

  2. 2.

    Note that the consumption of electricity does not emit GHG directly.

  3. 3.

    According to GHG inventory and reporting standards from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, GHGs from biomass combustion do not have to be reported in national inventory since the biomass is carbon neutral, provided it is consumed in a sustainable way (i.e., at a rate not higher than one needed for its renewal).

  4. 4.

    As defined by Statistics Canada in the Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) protocol: “The production is measured by the value of shipments of goods of own manufacture, that is the selling value of goods made by reporting establishments, excluding transfers into inventory and consignment sales, shipping charges by common or contract carriers, discounts and returns, federal and provincial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes, sales of goods purchased for resale.”

  5. 5.

    More details about ASM method can be found at Statistics Canada Web site. http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function = getSurvey&SDDS = 2103&lang = fr&db = imdb&dbg = f&adm = 8&dis = 2

  6. 6.

    See technical supplement for detailed results.

  7. 7.

    Data on two other subsectors of the grain and oilseed sector, i.e., wet corn milling (or ‘corn milling’) and fat and oil refining and blending, cannot be published because of confidentiality.

  8. 8.

    National data on energy consumption and GHG emission from seafood sector in 2002 are available from CIEEDAC and give a ratio of 20.2 g CO2e/MJ, well below the value calculated here, whereas other available sector ratios are in accordance. It is likely that CIEEDAC raw data does not account for fishing vessel fuel consumed.

  9. 9.

    Global ECI at national level for fruit and vegetable sector (2 MJ/$) is higher than any provincial value of the sector, which means at least one of the non-reported provincial global ECIs (i.e., from Prairies or Atlantic Provinces) is at least worth 2 MJ/$.

  10. 10.

    Energetics Inc. and E3M Inc. (2004).

  11. 11.

    The production is measured by the value of shipments of goods of own manufacture, that is, the selling value of goods made by reporting establishments, excluding transfers into inventory and consignment sales, shipping charges by common or contract carriers, discounts and returns, federal and provincial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes, sales of goods purchased for resale.

  12. 12.

    For more details on the survey, go to http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function = getSurvey&SDDS = 5120&lang = fr&db = IMDB&dbg = f&adm = 8&dis = 2

  13. 13.

    For more details on the survey, go to http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function = getSurvey&SDDS = 2103&lang = fr&db = IMDB&dbg = f&adm = 8&dis = 2

  14. 14.

    Seafood sector’s plants can use seawater, either directly in some processes where there is no contact with food, or after adequate treatment where contact is possible.

  15. 15.

    Even though evaporation is the obvious main cause for significant water consumption in the sector, this consumption figure is calculated from a volume balance and accounts also for any water loss (leaks, incidental overflows, etc.) and/or water added into finished product. Furthermore, leaks of water are unfortunately endemic to any industrial activity using water, which should be controlled to the extents possible.

  16. 16.

    Aquaculture is not considered a manufacturing group. Any industrial processing activity that might be carried out on an aqua farm is therefore not taken into account in this study.

  17. 17.

    HACCP: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. HACCP is an internationally recognized preventative system designed to detect potential hazards before they occur, and to implement control measures to reduce or eliminate the likelihood of their occurrence at each step in a process, and in all ingredients and packaging. All meat products must have a HACCP plan and if a new meat item is produced it cannot be marketed until a HACCP plan for that production process is developed. Canadian law requires that all federally inspected meat processing facilities (who are eligible to export) develop HACCP systems for their beef product lines. Today, food plants worldwide are using HACCP in a wide range of food manufacturing settings. HACCP is thus not limited to meat products.

  18. 18.

    National data is extrapolated from Ontario because its data is the most complete within major provinces. With similar data in Quebec (queryRecyc-Québec 2007) and B.C., extrapolation to national values should not be far from the real amount of food waste generated by an average Canadian home.

  19. 19.

    However, this value represents only part of the grand total since industrial, commercial and institutional sector waste is not considered here. This latter waste comes from food consumption outside the home, in workplaces and food services and tertiary packaging waste from processors, wholesalers and retailers. For example, in the United States in 1999, 27% of residual beverage containers were generated outside the home (R.W. Beck Inc. 2002).

  20. 20.

    The production is measured by the value of shipments of goods of own manufacture, that is, the selling value of goods made by reporting establishments, excluding transfers into inventory and consignment sales, shipping charges by common or contract carriers, discounts and returns, federal and provincial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes, and sales of goods purchased for resale.

  21. 21.

    More details about the ASM method can be found at the Statistics Canada Web site. http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function = getSurvey&SDDS = 2103&lang = fr&db = imdb&dbg = f&adm = 8&dis = 2

  22. 22.

    The breweries subsector accounted for 44% of beverage sector sales of manufactured goods in British Columbia, in 2002 (Statistics Canada 2008b).

  23. 23.

    Glass bottles are reused by breweries (no need to buy a new bottle for each portion sold) contrary to aluminum cans, which are recycled (a new can is needed for each portion sold).

  24. 24.

    The F&V sector in the Prairies is dominated by a few large plants selling uncooked French fries in large plastic bags to restaurants.

  25. 25.

    A short list of generic beneficial operating or management practices is also provided in the appendix section of the Web version of this document.

  26. 26.

    For example, in Australia with the National Packaging Covenant (http://www.packagingcovenant.org.au) and Europe (European Union 2004).

  27. 27.

    For instance, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment’s Extended Producer Responsibility Task Group is developing a Canada-wide strategy for sustainable packaging. Aspects and stakeholders involved are considered in the life cycle. (http://www.ccme.ca/ourwork/waste.html)

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Manufacturing, Construction and Energy Statistics Division of Statistics Canada, Ottawa, and in particular Daniel Scott, André Gravelle and Francine Rouleau. Many thanks are addressed to Andy Shinnan, François Soulard, Joe St. Lawrence and Martin Lemire, of the Environment Accounts and Statistics Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa. Dr. André Talbot of the Aquatic Ecosystem Protection Research Division, Environment Canada, Montreal, is kindly acknowledged for much advice provided. The authors would like to thank Isabelle Vézina, a master student in environment at the Université de Sherbrooke, for her dedicated work at the Food Research and Development Centre – St Hyacinthe, from April to September, 2006. Finally, many thanks are being addressed to Mathieu Guillemette from Éco Entreprises Québec.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, 960 Carling Avenue, KW Neatby, Room 1093, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0C6, Canada

    Michèle Marcotte

  2. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Food Research and Development Centre, 3600 Casavant Blud West, St. Hyacinthe, QC, Canada

    Yves Arcand & Dominique Maxime

  3. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Head Quarter, 1341 Baseline Road, Touer 5, Floor 2, Room 126, Ottawa, ON, K1A OC5, Canada

    Denyse Landry

Authors
  1. Michèle Marcotte
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  2. Yves Arcand
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  3. Dominique Maxime
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  4. Denyse Landry
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michèle Marcotte .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. de Ingeniería Química y Bioproceso, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuna Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile

    José Miguel Aguilera

  2. Depto. Procesos Químicos,, Biotecnológicos y Ambientales, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Av. España 1680, Vaparaiso, Chile

    Ricardo Simpson

  3. Dept. de Ingeneria Quimica y Alimentos, Universidad de las Americas-Puebla, Santa Catarina Matir 72820, Cholula, Puebla, Mexico

    Jorge Welti-Chanes

  4. Pullman, 99164, USA

    Daniela Bermudez-Aguirre

  5. , Department of Biological Systems Enginee, Washington State University, Pullman, 99164-6120, Washington, USA

    Gustavo Barbosa-Canovas

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Marcotte, M., Arcand, Y., Maxime, D., Landry, D. (2010). Development of Eco-efficiency Indicators to Assess the Environmental Performance of the Canadian Food and Beverage Industry. In: Aguilera, J., Simpson, R., Welti-Chanes, J., Bermudez-Aguirre, D., Barbosa-Canovas, G. (eds) Food Engineering Interfaces. Food Engineering Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7475-4_8

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