Working towards sustainability can be complex – it requires the involvement of all players in the livestock chain, from suppliers to consumers, accurate data for each individual business involved, and adopting a holistic approach to avoid potential pollution transfer.
In today’s Industry Perspectives, we talk to Dr. Marina Panhéleux, Group Innovation Manager for CCPA, about its approach to the issue. She coordinates the Innovation portfolio across the group's various activities, and is deeply involved in driving forward key parts of the business’ BECOME strategic plan, particularly on sustainability.
In this interview, we discuss the company’s adoption of the LCA approach and eco-design, what this means and how it will expand this through the business.
We also talk about how CCPA is supporting the industry, from livestock farmers to feed manufacturers and beyond, in their transition to more sustainable, low-carbon production with a small environmental footprint, including a focus on data personalisation to support individual businesses.
[Feedinfo] In your last Feedinfo Industry Perspectives, you talked about your BECOME strategic plan and its ambition for accelerated transformation, growth and innovation. As part of this, you have a specific focus on sustainability. Can you tell us more about this, and how it fits into the overall plan?
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[Marina Panhéleux] The mission of the CCPA Group, as stated by our CEO, François Pellet, in the last Feedinfo Perspectives is ‘to engage our know-how with passion for the competitiveness and sustainability of the livestock sector’. As a result, the issue of sustainability has naturally been incorporated into our BECOME 2025 strategic plan, with the aim of developing sustainable innovations to reduce our environmental footprint and that of our customers. |
Dr. Marina Panhéleux |
This means identifying and integrating new indicators to assess the impact of our solutions (products, nutritional approaches and farm management advice) on the environmental footprint of the animal products produced by our customers and contributing to their improvement.
A number of actions have been taken to ensure our commitment to sustainable agriculture:
1. Measuring the impact of our products using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), with the aim of generating data for our core solutions in a first step and working it across all our products in a second step.
2. Modelling and calculating the impact of our strategies - in terms of nutrition and breeding - by adapting them to the context and typology of farms, because data must be personalised when it comes to environmental impact.
3. Integrating an eco-design approach into our development of new products and services and the improvement of existing solutions. Eco-design means adapting our creative processes by rethinking the product throughout its lifecycle: choosing ingredients with less environmental impact, optimising product use, working on recyclability, on packaging, etc.
LCA and eco-design are two essential tools for contributing to the environmental labelling of products that our customers will have to comply with in the future.
Animal welfare is also at the heart of our concerns. We are actively working to identify the most appropriate solutions to support this key issue for the future of livestock farming, based on the objectification of animal behaviour through ethograms and on the adaptation of our experimental approach by integrating new experimental tools (in vitro, cellular models, in silico, modelling, etc.).
[Feedinfo] You are focused on a holistic approach to sustainability, based on the LCA approach, and in particular, the issue of avoiding potential pollution transfer. Can you discuss this in more detail, and why you are taking this approach?
[Marina Panhéleux] Measuring impacts using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method was an obvious choice. Indeed, it offers a number of advantages:
- It is a systemic and scientifically recognised method for carrying out a multi-criteria analysis of environmental impacts, based on 19 environmental criteria.
- LCA is widely recognised by European (EU PEFCR) and international (FAO LEAP) institutions, which have drawn up recommendations applicable to our business sector.
- The method is governed by the ISO 14 040 and ISO 14 044 standards, which, together with validation by external third parties, ensure the relevance of the data produced. Ensuring the accuracy of the data is crucial.
By integrating multiple criteria into an eco-design approach, it is possible to avoid potential pollution transfer. Decarbonisation, in the context of climate change, must not be achieved at the expense of water and other resources!
Reducing eutrophication and acidification are important issues at the heart of nutritional advice, particularly by adapting protein, amino acid and phosphorus intakes. The work carried out by nutritionists over the last 40 years on sources, digestibility, adequacy of requirements, etc. must not be impacted and degraded in order to reduce the carbon footprint, which is why the proposal to assess several criteria simultaneously is essential.
We also have formulation tools that can be used for multi-criteria simulations to illustrate possible economic trade-offs on environmental criteria (e.g. climate change and eutrophication). This specific work on feed is vital in the monogastric sector, particularly given the impact of feed on the environmental footprint: two thirds of greenhouse gas emissions are linked to poultry feed.
Similarly, advice on livestock farming can address issues such as improving performance by reducing the Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) in monogastric or reducing unproductive periods in ruminants, with benefits for the environmental footprint calculated by LCA.
[Feedinfo] Last year saw you complete the first LCA for one of your ruminant products, Turboviv®. What did the assessment reveal, and do you plan to make any changes as a result?
[Marina Panhéleux] At the end of the study, we noted that the values obtained at the end of the CCPA plant were low (0.694kg CO2-Eq/kg Turboviv® on the climate change criterion), which is a positive point.
These calculations, carried out at the level of our factory, also confirm the high contribution of inputs (ingredients), up to ±90% depending on the criteria, to the environmental footprint of the product. Alternative sourcing options are possible and will be the subject of future studies to reduce our impact.
The analysis, expressed per kg of milk leaving the farm, also made it possible to assess the contribution of 1kg of Turboviv® at less than 1% for all the environmental impact criteria. This contribution is minimal and largely offset by the environmental benefit of Turboviv® in terms of its contribution to biogenic climate change through its effect on methane production. It indirectly provides other environmental benefits by changing the animals’ ration to concentrates that have a lower environmental impact. The climate change impact of 1kg of milk produced with Turboviv® is 1.07kg CO2-Eq, whereas the impact is 1.14kg CO2-Eq without using the solution, representing a reduction of -6.5%
We now have figures for Turboviv® that contribute to reducing the footprint of our dairy customers. These values could be included in future environmental labelling to highlight progress towards sustainability.
[Feedinfo] In practical terms, what are you doing to help drive the sustainability issue? How are you helping your customers to address this?
[Marina Panhéleux] Our first action is to measure and assess the levers for progress that can be identified in feed production, breeding, effluent management, etc., to prioritise and target possible areas for improvement.
The personalisation of the data is a key point that requires the involvement of individual customers (integration of data on transport, origin of raw materials, etc.). Modelling tools then allow us to quantify the impact.
By incorporating reference calculations into our formulation tools, we can provide our customers with decision support, enabling them to launch feed ranges with a clear environmental impact.
Maturity level of environmental management varies according to geographical area and type of production. It is a vast subject that requires awareness of the importance of sustainability and the impact of climate change. We support our customers who wish to do so by helping to train their teams in sustainability issues related to nutrition and livestock farming.
To help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the CCPA Group has also launched an energy management support service for feed manufacturers in France and abroad. This new service enables customers to work on improving their performance and controlling their costs and processes. We have set ourselves the target of reducing energy consumption by 15% over one year, in line with the results achieved at our own sites by 2022.
To achieve this, we are deploying connected tools to measure electricity consumption. Feedback on electricity consumption is instantaneous. Our technology department then processes the data from these sensors and makes it available in the form of a control chart. This makes it possible to accurately map and characterise the energy performance of the manufacturing site and production workshops, right down to the detail of the equipment and the recipe.
In 2023, the year in which the offer was launched, eight sites were instrumented, exceeding the initial target of three sites. Results are already visible in the first few weeks of support, with a reduction in electricity consumption of up to 12% in certain stages of the process when the first actions are implemented.
[Feedinfo] Are there any developments CCPA has made in the area of sustainability that you are particularly proud of? And what can we expect to see in future from you?
[Marina Panhéleux] The CCPA Group recently published a white paper on the importance of the dairy sector for the environment and the means already available to reduce its environmental footprint. Taken together, these measures can reduce CO2 emissions by 15% per kilo of milk, while improving profitability by €180 per cow per year. It’s a source of great pride for our teams who have worked on this project!
Research on monogastric animals has shown interesting results, highlighting the significant potential of feed improvements. Various strategies, such as reducing protein content and replacing imported soy with amino acids and protein-rich plants, have been tested. These approaches have significantly improved the environmental footprint, achieving reductions in climate change impact ranging from 10% to 30%. Importantly, these advancements do not compromise animal performance. Improving feed efficiency continues to be a top research priority, as it offers substantial benefits for both competitiveness and sustainability. We are working on it by combining plant-based solutions and nutritional advice.
CCPA solutions aim to reduce environmental impact and to improve farm profitability. To be successful, we believe that a holistic approach is needed, integrating measurement and analysis tools at different levels (feed, breeding, etc.). To facilitate the adoption of these practices, CCPA supports livestock farmers and feed manufacturers with its expertise in nutrition, phytogenics, and digital expertise to help the sector move towards more sustainable production.
We believe that transparency and commitment to sustainable development are key to shaping the future of livestock production. This transition to sustainability is both a challenge and an opportunity. With nearly 60 years of expertise and innovation, and thanks to its global approach, the CCPA Group is a key partner in helping breeders achieve these objectives.
Published in association with CCPA Group
