Analysis of sustainability assessments to understand modeling trends and habits in the Agri-food industry: A Canadian case study

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the agri-food Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) to develop actions geared towards improving the consistency across different regions. A case study was conducted in the Canadian agri-food industry, addressing inconsistencies in adopting LCA tools, methodologies, and impact categories across academic, industrial, and governmental stakeholders. The study identifies trends, gaps, and opportunities in the field, which involves understanding the status and trends of LCA construction and modeling in the industry, identifying the regions and institutions engaged in LCA development, and papering on the tools and methods used by practitioners. Significant findings include regional and institutional deviations in selecting LCA impact methods and categories, limiting the scalability and comparability of results and hindering the integration of LCA outcomes into national and regional sustainability strategies.

The deviations in LCA practices across regions, years, and institutions highlight the need for regionalized LCA impact assessment methods. Regional distributions indicate that provinces with high agricultural GDP, such as Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta, are well-represented; however, Saskatchewan has less prominent LCA activity, which is a concerning gap. This study proposes the use of region-specific LCA impact assessment method tailored to diverse agricultural and environmental contexts. Stakeholder-specific strategies to address these gaps, promoting actionable collaboration for more consistent and scalable LCA practices applicable to other sectors, are shared. A Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threats (SWOT) framework is developed to target optimal approaches for stakeholder-specific actions to foster efficient and harmonized LCA collaboration. This paper presents the value of cooperation between all stakeholders to enhance the consistency and applicability of LCA results. To facilitate this, it proposes actionable strategies such as creating centralized knowledge-sharing platforms, inter-institutional partnerships, and standardized data collection and papering protocols.