European Union
The Global Feed LCA Institute project established synergies with the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) initiative launched by the European Commission in the sense that GFLI data are suitable for the implementation of the Feed Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules currently under development.
Following a tender procedure, the EU GFLI project has been selected by the European Commission to develop PEF compliant datasets for the major feed ingredients. The participants in the EU GFLI project developed these datasets with the technical support of Blonk consultants. The scope of the tender covered more than 1,500 datasets for the major feed ingredients from different nature (raw materials and processed products from vegetable and animal origin), and eventually resulted in 755 datasets. The datasets have been selected from the perspective of the consumption of feed ingredients in Europe, meaning that imported ingredients from key suppliers countries are also included.
To capture the diversity across the EU, the datasets were created on a country basis (e.g. rapeseed meal from Germany or wheat from France). The delivery of the datasets to the European Commission was foreseen in April 2017.
After the completion of this first phase, the EU GFLI project will start additional activities aiming at strengthening the robustness of GFLI data either by filling data gaps and/ or by improving the quality of the first datasets delivered.
Europe Project Steering Group Members
AB AGRI, Agrifirm, AIC, Bemefa, Cargill Animal Nutrition, Evonik, FEDIOL, FEFAC, For Farmers, Nevedi, SNIA, Nutreco, USSEC
North America
The efforts to gather lifecycle inventory (LCI) data for the United States and Canada resulted in 42 datasets in Canada and 123 in the United States. Priority ingredients used in feed manufacturing in both countries were identified, and under the overall technical guidance of Dr. Frank Mitloehner of the University of California at Davis, members of the North American project group developed the datasets for cultivation inputs and production outputs.
Because of the different crop growth and use patterns across North America, the required datasets were created on a regional basis. In the United States, American Feed Industry Association member representatives collected LCI data both from within their own organizations, and from external sources such as suppliers and service providers. Where practical, such data was supplemented by information available in the public domain – primarily from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other available government sources.
A somewhat different approach was taken in Canada, largely because of the shortage of relevant LCI data available from government sources on a selected group of ingredients unique to the region. The Animal Nutrition Association of Canada has engaged the services of Groupe Agéco, a Quebec-based organization with significant expertise in the LCA field, and with experience in similar projects in the Canadian agri-food sector, to fill these data gaps.
USA/Canada Project Steering Group Members
AFIA, ANAC, ADM Alliance Nutrition, Alltech, Cargill Animal Nutrition, CHS Nutrition, Diamond V, Elanco Animal Health, Evonik, Hi-Pro Feeds, LandO’Lakes Purina, Mosaic Feed Ingredients, National Soybean Board, Potashcorp