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Article | 15.04.2025
Stefaan Bekaert and Lode Nollet
In a previous newsletter we explained what a life cycle assessment (LCA) is and why our customers need them. Briefly, our customers need product LCAs to calculate the carbon footprint of the feed the produce and thereby work out the carbon footprint of their whole business. But what impact do our products have on the carbon footprint of our customers?
Table 1 shows some illustrative values for the carbon footprint of feed ingredients and a selection of Huvepharma products. Compared to some feed ingredients, the carbon footprint of our products can be large when expressed per kg of product.
Table 1. Examples of the carbon footprint of ingredients and feed additives
However, the amount of our feed additives per ton of feed is generally much lower, and so the absolute impact is very limited. When looking at the total carbon footprint of a broiler feed, feed ingredients account for 85 to 95% of the total carbon footprint, depending on the source of the ingredients (considering any change in land use) while feed additives (enzymes, anticoccidials) only contribute between 5 and 15%. When specifically looking at Huvepharma products, the relative contribution is even lower at ±0.07% and 0.2% for OptiPhos® Plus (at superdosing levels, x4) and our anticoccidials (Monimax® or Sacox®), respectively.
Moreover, our products can contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of production! A recent meta-analysis of all trials carried out with OptiPhos® Plus showed that it reduced the carbon footprint of broiler production (expressed as kg CO2 eq/kg body weight) by 3.4 to 5.6%. This is achieved through two modes of action:
- Including OptiPhos® Plus in the diet releases more phosphorus (P) from the feed ingredients, therefore reducing the amount of inorganic P that needs to be added to the diet. Sources such as monocalcium phosphate (MCP) and dicalcium phosphate (DCP) can account for 1.7 to 4% of the carbon footprint. Thus OptiPhos® Plus can reduce the carbon footprint of feed by 1.7-4% through reformulation alone.
- Including higher doses of OptiPhos® Plus improves technical performance (the so-called superdosing effect).
Conclusion
At Huvepharma, we are committed to providing our customers with LCAs for our products. Directly, our products have a limited contribution to the overall carbon footprint of the feed. Indirectly, via reformulation and improved technical performance, we can significantly lower the carbon footprint of production.
For feed mills, the absolute amount of CO2 eq contributed by our enzymes will largely be compensated by the reduced volumes of inorganic P needed in the diet. In many cases, for example integrators, there will be an absolute reduction of kg CO2 eq because the lower carbon footprint of broiler meat production will lead to a lower overall company carbon footprint.
For more information, download OptiPhos® Plus Technical Note 5 by clicking here.
Product mentioned in this article
OptiPhos® Plus is the latest generation, most thermostable phytase on the market. OptiPhos® Plus has improved thermostability and shows robust and reliable matrix values.
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