Summary:

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method enables the examination of the overall impact of a given product or process on the environment. In this study, the environmental assessment of the life cycle of pet food was conducted on selected commercially available products. Three dog foods were analyzed: two dry foods (A and B) with beef content of 14% and 75%, respectively, and one wet food (C) with 100% beef content. The assessment was carried out using SimaPro 8.1 software and the ReCiPe model, as well as the Ecoinvent 3.0 database. The boundaries of the analyzed system included the technological processes necessary for the production of the pet food, electricity consumption during production, and the composition of the pet food materials. The analysis revealed that the highest negative impact on the environment in all categories (human health, ecosystem, natural resources) was due to the beef content. As the beef content increased, the negative impact on the environment significantly increased. The other ingredients, as well as the energy consumption during the production processes, and the type of packaging, accounted for only a small percentage of the environmental impact of the studied products. The highest indicator among the analyzed pet foods (approx. 1500 Pt) was achieved by product C (wet food). The calculated emission of CO2 equivalent in this case was also the highest - nearly 12 Mg CO2eq per 1 Mg of product.