Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)--A study of the Evaluating Sustainability of the Manufacture of Ice Cream Products

Abstract

The environmental effects of the industrial manufacture of ice cream through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach is the main focus of this study. A 200-liter batch of raw material (about 100 kg of product – ice cream) is considered as the functional unit. The LCA has a cradle-to-gate boundary. The study assesses energy and water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and locates environmental hotspots during the production process, while adhering to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards. To prepare a comprehensive life cycle inventory (LCI), the evaluation combines primary data from manufacturers with secondary data from well-known databases, such as Ecoinvent v3.8. The ice-cream manufacturing facility considered for the study is located in Pune, Maharashtra. With an average carbon footprint of 7.14 kg CO₂e per kg of ice cream, the analysis shows a total carbon footprint of 713.91 kg CO₂-equivalent for the studied batch of the product, which is much higher than the global average for dairy-based frozen desserts (1.5–3.0 kg CO₂e/kg). Due to the dairy industry's high resource and energy requirements, milk solids (43%), electricity use (9.2%), and embedded water in dairy inputs are the main causes of the increased emissions. The usage of chemical stabilizers (such as CMC Carboxy Methyl Cellulose), artificial flavorings and colorants, and paper-based packaging are other factors that contribute significantly to emissions because of their energy-intensive processing and lack of recycling or reuse plans. The environmental costs of every processing step—mixing, pasteurization, aging, freezing, hardening, and packaging that primarily relies on energy-intensive equipment are also highlighted by the LCA. Notably, because refrigeration relies on power derived from fossil fuels and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants, the study highlights the significance of refrigeration across the supply chain as a persistent source of carbon emissions.