Life Cycle Assessment in Dairy Supply Chains: A Review and Framework for Sustainability Improvement in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55927/ijems.v4i1.38Keywords:
Life Cycle Assessment, Dairy Supply Chain, Sustainability, Gap Analysis, Conceptual FrameworkAbstract
The sustainability of the dairy sector is a strategic issue in the development of the national economy and food system, given the significant environmental pressures across the supply chain and the limited capacity of business actors to manage these impacts systematically. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been widely applied as an environmental evaluation tool in the dairy sector. However, its implementation remains fragmented and shows persistent gaps between field needs, public policies, business strategies, and actual practices. This study aims to systematically map LCA practices implemented in the milk supply chain and identify key sustainability hotspots and structural gaps relevant to the Indonesian dairy industry. The research employs a systematic literature review of selected international scientific publications, analyzed through qualitative content analysis to examine system boundaries, supply chain stages, environmental indicators, and principal findings, followed by gap analysis between existing practices, sector needs, and policy frameworks. The results reveal that dominant environmental hotspots are concentrated in the upstream production stage, particularly related to enteric methane emissions, feed production intensity, manure management, and resource use efficiency. Furthermore, the integration of LCA findings into business decision-making processes and sustainability policy formulation remains limited. These findings highlight the need for an integrative conceptual framework that connects LCA practices with business process improvement and policy interventions to support a more resilient and sustainable dairy sector model in Indonesia
References
Baldini, C., Gardoni, D., Guarino, M., & Pirlo, G. (2022). Environmental sustainability of dairy production: A review of life cycle assessment studies. Sustainability, 14(3), 1358. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031358
Bava, L., Zucali, M., Sandrucci, A., & Brasca, M. (2021). Environmental impact of milk production: A comparison of different dairy systems using life cycle assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 280, 124466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124466
Bjørn, A., Chandrakumar, C., Boulay, A.-M., Doka, G., Fang, K., Gondran, N., Hauschild, M. Z., Kerkhof, A., King, H., Margni, M., McLaren, S., Mueller, C., Owsianiak, M., Peters, G., Roos, S., Sala, S., Sandin, G., Sim, S., Vargas-Gonzalez, M., & Laurent, A. (2020). Review of life-cycle based methods for absolute environmental sustainability assessment and their applications. Environmental Research Letters, 15(8), 083001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab89d7
Borges, J. A. R., de Oliveira, L. F. C., & Ferreira, T. S. (2021). Sustainability assessment and gap analysis in agri-food supply chains: A systematic review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 297, 126592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126592
Geissdoerfer, M., Pieroni, M. P. P., Pigosso, D. C. A., & Soufani, K. (2020). Circular business models: A review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 277, 123741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123741
Grunert, K. G., Hieke, S., & Wills, J. (2021). Sustainability labels on food products: Consumer motivation, understanding and use. Food Policy, 44, 177–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.12.001
Guinée, J. B., Heijungs, R., de Koning, A., van Oers, L., & Wegener Sleeswijk, A. (2021). Life cycle assessment: Past, present, and future. Environmental Science & Technology, 55(13), 8455–8464. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c01306
Herrero, M., Thornton, P. K., Mason-D’Croz, D., Palmer, J., Benton, T. G., Bodirsky, B. L., Bogard, J. R., Hall, A., Lee, B., Nyborg, K., Pradhan, P., Bonnett, G. D., Bryan, B. A., Campbell, B. M., Christensen, S., Clark, M., Fanzo, J., Godde, C. M., Jarvis, A., … Rockström, J. (2020). Innovation can accelerate the transition towards a sustainable food system. Nature Food, 1(5), 266–272. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-0074-1
Kitchenham, B., Budgen, D., & Brereton, P. (2020). Evidence-based software engineering and systematic reviews. Information and Software Technology, 123, 106293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2020.106293
Laurent, A., Owsianiak, M., Hauschild, M. Z., & Rosenbaum, R. K. (2020). LCA framework for decision-making: A review of life cycle impact assessment. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 24(2), 281–299. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12968
Mayring, P. (2021). Qualitative content analysis: A step-by-step guide. SAGE Open, 11(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211010102
Mazzetto, A. M., Falconer, R. E., & Ledgard, S. F. (2020). Mapping the carbon footprint of milk production systems: A review of life cycle assessment studies. Agricultural Systems, 184, 102893. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102893
Mazzocchi, M., Shankar, B., Traill, W. B., & Verbeke, W. (2022). Policy coherence for sustainable food systems. Food Policy, 108, 102238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2022.102238
Nilsson, M., Griggs, D., & Visbeck, M. (2021). Policy: Map the interactions between Sustainable Development Goals. Nature, 534(7607), 320–322. https://doi.org/10.1038/534320a
Notarnicola, B., Sala, S., Anton, A., McLaren, S. J., Saouter, E., & Sonesson, U. (2020). The role of life cycle assessment in supporting sustainable agri-food systems. Journal of Cleaner Production, 247, 119170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119170
O’Brien, D., Hennessy, T., Moran, B., & Shalloo, L. (2020). Relating the carbon footprint of milk from Irish dairy farms to economic performance. Journal of Dairy Science, 103(6), 5605–5618. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2019-17636
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2022). Policies for the future of farming and food in OECD countries. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9a47a45f-en
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., & Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Pirlo, G., Carè, S., & Guarino, M. (2021). Environmental footprint of milk production: Hotspots and mitigation strategies. Science of the Total Environment, 761, 143203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143203
Plevin, R. J., Delucchi, M. A., & Creutzig, F. (2020). Using attributional life cycle assessment to estimate climate-change mitigation benefits misleads policy makers. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 24(1), 64–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12929
Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2020). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987–992. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0216
Reisinger, A., Clark, H., Cowie, A., Emmet-Booth, J., Gonzalez Fischer, C., Herrero, M., Howden, M., Leahy, S., & Tirado, R. (2021). How necessary and feasible are reductions of methane emissions from livestock to support stringent temperature goals? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 379(2206), 20200452. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0452
Sala, S., Reale, F., Cristóbal-García, J., Marelli, L., & Pant, R. (2020). Life cycle assessment for the impact assessment of policies (JRC Technical Reports). https://doi.org/10.2760/876352
Sala, S., Crenna, E., Secchi, M., & Sanyé-Mengual, E. (2021). Environmental sustainability of agri-food systems: The value of life cycle assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 315, 128119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128119
Salou, T., van der Werf, H. M. G., & Levert, F. (2021). Beyond climate change: Environmental impacts of dairy systems assessed by life cycle assessment. Agricultural Systems, 190, 103086. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103086
Setyawan, D., Hartono, S., & Widodo, S. (2023). Life cycle assessment of smallholder dairy farming systems in Indonesia: Environmental hotspots and improvement opportunities. Sustainability, 15(7), 6124. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15076124
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
van der Vorst, J. G. A. J., Tromp, S. O., & van der Zee, D. J. (2021). Simulation modelling for food supply chain redesign. International Journal of Production Economics, 235, 108070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2021.108070
Weidema, B. P. (2020). Nutrition in the life cycle assessment of foods—Function or impact? The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 25, 1717–1725. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-019-01658-y
Wiedemann, S. G., McGahan, E. J., Murphy, C. M., Yan, M. J., Henry, B. K., Thoma, G. J., Ledgard, S. F., & Jolliet, O. (2020). Environmental impacts and resource use of Australian beef and lamb exported to the USA determined using life cycle assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 267, 121986. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121986
Xiao, Y., & Watson, M. (2019). Guidance on conducting a systematic literature review. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 39(1), 93–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X17723971
Zucali, M., Bacenetti, J., Tamburini, A., & Fusi, A. (2021). Environmental footprint of dairy farming: A review of mitigation strategies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 279, 123951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123951
