Environmental prospective of valorizing corn processing effluent to produce ferulic acid grafted chitosan polymer.

The food industry requires new production models that include more environmentally friendly waste management practices, considering that the environmental loads of solid waste and wastewater associated with this sector cause damage to the receiving ecosystems. The approach considered in this study focuses on the design and environmental assessment of an enzymatic process for the valorization of ferulic acid present in the effluent of a corn tortilla plant. The ferulic acid can be immobilized on chitosan so that the ferulic acid grafted chitosan can be used as a bioactive film with enhanced antioxidant properties with potential applications in the biotechnology sector. Its real projection approach requires the evaluation of its environmental and economic performance, trying to identify its benefits and potential in the value chain, using the Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) as a phase for the conceptual design of the process and the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology for the environmental evaluation. It should be noted that the TEA indicators are promising, since the values of the financial indicators obtained are representative of the economic profitability, which makes the ferulic acid valorization a viable process. In terms of the environmental impact of the process, the buffer dose and the chitosan production process are identified as the main critical points. This double benefit in environmental and economic terms shows that the valorization of ferulic acid for chitosan functionalization is a promising alternative to improve the sustainability performance of corn processing.

Process modeling, environmental and economic sustainability of the valorization of whey and eucalyptus residues for resveratrol biosynthesis.

Biomass is one of the renewable resources with the greatest potential, not only because of the possibility of energy recovery but also because of its content in components of interest. In this context, the regions of Galicia and Portugal have large areas of land dedicated to forestry, agriculture and livestock, and the large amount of waste generated represents a cost for the producer. The importance of these facts has aroused great interest in society to focus its interest on improving the current situation while seeking a benefit, both environmental and economic, from existing resources. That is why the integration of biotechnological processes and biorefinery for their valorization are considered key aspects in the way of producing bioproducts and bioenergy. This research article proposes a process for producing resveratrol from whey from the dairy industry and eucalyptus residues from forestry exploitation. In order to evaluate its suitability, a techno-economic analysis and an environmental assessment have been carried out using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The results obtained show the potential of these scenarios both from the economic point of view, by obtaining a minimum sale price of resveratrol to ensure the viability of the process below the market average, and from the environmental point of view, being eucalyptus residues those that result in a lower contribution to the environment per unit of resveratrol produced. Future research should focus on increasing the throughput of the production process to increase its profitability and on reducing energy requirements throughout the process, as these have been the main critical points identified. In addition, following the sensitivity assessment, it has been concluded that opting for renewable energy is the most sustainable option.

How decentralized treatment can contribute to the symbiosis between environmental protection and resource recovery.

Challenges associated with the sustainability of the water cycle pose new opportunities for resource recovery and greater environmental protection. While centralized wastewater treatment plants must evolve in their design and operation to adapt to a scenario of increasing demand for water, resources and energy, the decentralized approach emerges as an option to be considered in small communities or developing residential areas where bioenergy production can be improved through the recovery of organic matter in segregated streams or where the investment in the sewer network for connection to a centralized facility may be technologically or economically unfeasible. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the environmental and economic profile of a hybrid-decentralized configuration for the purpose of efficient wastewater management and resource recovery and its comparative evaluation with the centralized treatment scenario. Beyond water reclamation, decentralized treatment offers the possibility of valorization of digestate streams as nutrient sources for horticultural or ornamental crops in the vicinity of the plant. Based on the results of the environmental profile, this manuscript shows that the decentralized treatment approach is in line with the philosophy and guidelines of the circular economy, as it allows the use of reclaimed water and biofertilizers under safe and environmental-friendly conditions.

Multi-product strategy to enhance the environmental profile of the canning industry towards circular economy.

The sustainable and continued production of enough food to feed the entire world's population is one of the main concerns in the food industry. Spain, and in particular Galicia, which is an eminently fishing region characterised by the consumption of large quantities of fish, both fresh and processed, must face the challenge of shifting its seafood productive fabric towards a circular economy. To achieve this objective, the first task is to demonstrate that circular economy principles allow to reduce the environmental impacts associated with seafood production. In this sense, this study proposes the environmental evaluation of the skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) value chain within a canning industry located in Galicia through the LCA methodology from an attributional perspective, including the valorisation processes for biowaste (edible and inedible by-products). Results indicate that the main crucial subsystems of the value chain are tuna fishing and the canning process, as it was expected considering other similar studies on seafood products. Moreover, this specific case study demonstrates that the multi-product strategy applied to the canning sector is environmentally viable. Thus, although the environmental impacts of the entire system are increased by including further valorisation operations, the environmental loads assigned to the main product (canned tuna) decrease compared to the one-product system by assigning environmental burdens to other value-added products (tuna pâté, fishmeal, and fish oil).

Environmental assessment of menus for toddlers serviced at nursery canteen following the Atlantic diet recommendations.

Menus served at public services can be considered as a good opportunity for consumers to demand a service that ensures healthy and environmentally friendly food. It is especially in the sector of nurseries and schools, where these demands make the most sense since they call for the protection of particularly vulnerable population: children. The purpose of this study is to analyze the biweekly menus served at a public Spanish nursery canteen considering the link with the two most recognized environmental indicators: the consumptive water footprint (WF) and the carbon footprint (CF). The WF and CF of the menus vary considerably between menus (619-1359 L·menu-1 and 0.75-2.95 kg CO2eq·menu-1). The assessment has identified non-dairy sources of protein and dairy-based products as the key food categories in all menus. Menus with more meat (mostly beef) and dairy products (mainly cheese) were associated with higher impacts. That is, the average impact of menus with beef is about 2 times greater than the one of all other menus. The distribution and cooking stages presented negligible contributions in terms of greenhouse gases emissions, mainly due to the consumption of local/regional products and low-energy intensive cooking techniques. The most important strategy for reducing environmental impacts is based on reducing the frequency of consumption of beef, so that poultry and lean pork are consumed alternately. This reduction should not compromise the necessary protein intake for toddlers. Attention should also be paid to afternoon snacks that are rich in cold meat and dairy products. Considering these issues, significant reductions in WF and CF indicators could be achieved, up to 550 L·menu-1 and 0.70 kg CO2eq·menu-1. Since eating habits introduced at an early stage are more likely to develop into adult behaviour, children canteen services are an excellent opportunity to promote healthy eating habits in children and their families.

Inventory review and environmental evaluation of first- and second-generation sugars through life cycle assessment.

In recent years, there has been a great movement towards the generation of knowledge related to the biorefinery concept. First-generation biorefineries bear the stigma of using arable land and edible crops for fuel instead of as sources of food and feed. However, second-generation biorefineries have not reached the level of full technical feasibility. Bearing in mind the objective of sugar production from sugar, starch, or lignocellulosic raw materials, the purpose of this study is to assess the environmental impact of first- and second-generation biorefineries, considering as an example for the comparative evaluation, the production of sugar fractions from crops (starch and sugar crops), and lignocellulosic biomass (hardwood and softwood). The characterization results were obtained using the ReCiPe 1.1 model, implemented through the SimaPro 9.0 software. Both production systems are inherently different and have strengths and weaknesses that must be carefully analyzed. The resulting environmental profile shows that the silviculture of wood contributes less to the environmental impact than cropping activities in most impact categories. In general, this study suggests that first-generation systems are burdened environmentally by the use of fertilizers, which have a significant impact on categories such as marine and freshwater eutrophication and terrestrial acidification, while second-generation systems are limited by the intensive processing steps needed for delignification, typically involving the use of chemicals and/or energy. LCA in early stages of the production of bio-based building blocks, rather than on the manufacture of biofuels or bioplastics, allows the precise identification of the environmental burdens that may be influencing the overall environmental profile of a biorefinery.

Could the economic crisis explain the reduction in the carbon footprint of food? Evidence from Spain in the last decade.

Dietary patterns are influenced by numerous external factors such as cultural taste and customs, nutritional and economic aspects and lifestyle and consumer preferences. Otherwise, food also causes a great impact on the environment and there can be a large difference between choosing certain foodstuffs, such as plant or animal-based ones. The key for an environmentally friendly and healthy diet is the high consumption of plant-based products, low amounts of animal-origin foodstuffs and limited quantity of refined grains, processed food and added sugars. Nevertheless, adherence to it has been decreasing over the years due to the adoption of a more westernized consumption pattern. Thus, the main goal of this study is to monitor the food consumption pattern at household level during a period of 10 years (2008-2017), selecting Spain as case study. Both the impacts that foodstuffs included in the food basket cause in the environment, and the socio-economic variables that influence the consumer choice are considered. Results show a generalized decrease of the carbon footprint over the years. However, it does not always mean an approach to a healthier diet, considering that in this case it decreases both the consumption of those foods with a greater environmental footprint as those essential for a balanced diet with low ecological impact. Additionally, there is also an increase in the consumption of processed food, which further distances the dietary pattern from the recommendations, what can be more pronounced for the most vulnerable population groups, with less purchasing power to access healthy food.

Evaluating the carbon footprint of a Spanish city through environmentally extended input output analysis and comparison with life cycle assessment.

Currently, most of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are attributed to cities, as they are the global centers of business, residential and cultural activity, cities are expected to play a leading role in proposing climate change mitigation actions. To do so, it is important to have tools that allow the carbon footprint of cities to be assessed as accurately as possible. This study aims to quantify the carbon footprint (CF) associated with the activities developed in a Spanish city (Cadiz, Southwest Spain) by means of two available environmental methodologies, namely Environmentally Extended Input-Output Analysis (EEIOA) and Life Cycle assessment (LCA). When EEIOA is considered, two downscaling factors were proposed for the analysis due to the nature of the data handled (monetary data), based on the incomes (DF1) and expenditures (DF2) per inhabitant at city level. Regarding LCA, the rates of consumption of goods and production of waste per inhabitant have been processed to estimate the CF. The CF scores identified were 5.25 and 3.83 tCO2-eq·inhabitant-1·year-1 for DF1 and DF2 respectively, according to EEIOA, and 5.43 tCO2-eq·inhabitant-1·year-1, considering LCA. Therefore, a similarity can be concluded between the results obtained with both methodologies despite the inherent differences. Considering the results, the downscaling procedure based on income per inhabitant should be preferred, pointing to EEIOA as a good alternative to LCA for evaluating the CF at city level, requiring less time and effort. In contrast, EEIOA reports more limitations when critical flows were identified, which LCA can solve. Finally, this study can be of great interest to policy makers and city governments to know the CF and the main flows that contribute and in this way, can develop new policies and city models for reducing GHG emission new policies and city models for reducing GHG emission and addressing climate change.

Life cycle assessment of fish and seafood processed products - A review of methodologies and new challenges.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been widely applied in many different sectors, but the marine products and seafood segment have received relatively little attention in the past. In recent decades, global fish production experienced sustained growth and peaked at about 179 million tonnes in 2018. Consequently, increased interest in the environmental implications of fishery products along the supply chain, namely from capture to end of life, was recently experienced by society, industry and policy-makers. This timely review aims to describe the current framework of LCA and its application to the seafood sector that mainly focused on fish extraction and processing, but it also encompassed the remaining stages. An excess of 60 studies conducted over the last decade, along with some additional publications, were comprehensively reviewed; these focused on the main LCA methodological choices, including but not limited to, functional unit, system boundaries allocation methods and environmental indicators. The review identifies key recommendations on the progression of LCA for this increasingly important sustaining seafood sector. Specifically, these recommendations include (i) the need for specific indicators for fish-related activities, (ii) the target species and their geographical origin, (iii) knowledge and technology transfer and, (iv) the application and implementation of key recommendations from LCA research that will improve the accuracy of LCA models in this sector. Furthermore, the review comprises a section addressing previous and current challenges of the seafood sector. Wastewater treatment, ghost fishing or climate change, are also the objects of discussion together with advocating support for the water-energy-food nexus as a valuable tool to minimize environmental negativities and to frame successful synergies.

Cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment of bio-adhesives for the wood panel industry. A comparison with petrochemical alternatives.

The wood panel industry requires the introduction of more environmental-friendly adhesives due to the strict current regulations on formaldehyde-based emissions. The purpose of this study was to environmentally analyse the production of four different bio-adhesives as alternatives to the most conventional fossil resins used in the production of wood panels. The bio-adhesives proposed for analysis derived from different available renewable biopolymers such as protein (soy) and lignin (Kraft and Organosolv), as well as tannin. The production systems were evaluated from a cradle-to-gate perspective using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology, with the aim of identifying critical parameters and comparing them with fossil substitutes. Inventory data of bio-adhesives were modelled at large scale from lab scale experiments and completed with literature reports. Our results showed that the soy-based and tannin based bio-adhesive had an overall better profile than fossil resins, identifying the production of polyacrylamide for the former, and the production of condensed tannin and glyoxal for the latter, as the main environmental hotspots. In contrast, further research is required on the use of lignins, specifically because of the electricity requirements in the lignin glyoxalation stage (a process required for the functionalization of lignin). Sensitivity analyses were conduced on these key parameters suggesting that there is room for improvement.This study provides useful information for researchers and policy-makers on where to focus their activities with the aim of making the future of bio-adhesives more technically and environmentally favourable.

Unravelling the environmental and economic impacts of innovative technologies for the enhancement of biogas production and sludge management in wastewater systems.

The retrofitting of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) should be addressed under sustainability criteria. It is well known that there are two elements that most penalize wastewater treatment: (i) energy requirements and (ii) sludge management. New technologies should reduce both of these drawbacks to address technical efficiency, carbon neutrality and reduced economic costs. In this context, the main objective of this work was to evaluate two real plants of different size in which major modifications were considered: enhanced recovery of organic matter (OM) in the primary treatment and partial-anammox nitrification process in the secondary treatment. Plant-wide modelling provided an estimate of the input and output flows of each process unit as well as the diagnosis of the main performance indicators, which served as a basis for the calculation of environmental and economic indicators using the LCA methodology. The combination of high-rate activated sludge (HRAS) + partial nitrification Anammox can decrease the environmental impacts by about 70% in the climate change (CC) category and 50% in the eutrophication potential (EP) category. Moreover, costs can be reduced by 35-45% depending on the size of the plant. In addition, the enhanced rotating belt filter (ERBF) can also improve the environmental profile, but to a lesser extent than the previous scenario, only up to 10% for CC and 15% for EP. These positive results are only possible considering the production of energy through biogas valorization according to the waste-to-energy scheme.

Environmental assessment of viticulture waste valorisation through composting as a biofertilisation strategy for cereal and fruit crops.

Composting is a solid waste management alternative that avoids the emission of methane associated with its disposal in landfill and reduces or eliminates the need for chemical fertilisers if compost is applied. The main objective of this study was to analyse the environmental burdens of composting as a way to achieve a more circular valorisation of wine waste. To do so, with the purpose of identifying optimal operational conditions and determining the "hotspots" of the process, the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used. The consumption of diesel fuel in machinery was determined to be the main critical point in the environmental effects of the system, followed by the transport and distribution of the compost. After the application of compost instead of mineral fertilisers, corn, tomato and strawberry crops would have a better environmental performance in most impact categories. In this sense, a maximum improvement of 65% in terrestrial ecotoxicity is achieved in strawberry cultivation. In light of the results obtained, it is demonstrated that composting is a suitable way of organic waste valorisation according to Circular Economy principles.

Life cycle assessment of autochthonous varieties of wheat and artisanal bread production in Galicia, Spain.

For millennia, bread and wheat have been one of the most important sources of nutrients in many civilizations. Today, mechanization and evolution in agriculture and food processing have intensified yields and modified the biological and nutritional aspects of multiple crops and foods. The Galician bread is a reference value of food heritage in Spain, which is made from common wheat grain and is a mixture of indigenous Galician wheat and conventional Spanish wheat. In the pursuit of product excellence, it is interesting to identify the environmental profile as support criteria in decision-making, not only to analyse product environmental sustainability, but also as a marketing element to improve consumer awareness. The paper has a twofold perspective to analyse the environmental burdens of wheat cultivation and the bread sector, using life cycle assessment approach: 1) the comparison of the different types of agricultural systems, i.e. the cultivation of Galician wheat following a strategy of monoculture and crop rotation, certified Galician seed production and its comparison with conventional wheat cultivation and 2) the environmental profile of Galician bread. The functional units chosen were 1 kg of wheat grain transported to the milling facility and 1 kg of Galician bread. The results show that wheat cultivation presents the main environmental impacts of bread production, mainly due to the use of agrochemicals and field emissions. The best cultivation scenario corresponds to a crop rotation system, since chemical fertilisation is not applied. In comparative terms with many staple foods produced in Europe, Galician bread has a low environmental impact. The overall environmental results of bread production draw attention to the dependence of bread and flour manufacturers on the agricultural sector, highlighting the need to share responsibilities across the supply chain. In addition, this study contributes to the stakeholder debate on environmental impacts related to food heritage.

Bottom-up approach in the assessment of environmental impacts and costs of an innovative anammox-based process for nitrogen removal.

In recent decades, the wastewater treatment sector has undergone a shift to adapt to increasing discharge limits. In addressing the evaluation of innovative technologies, it is necessary to determine the scale at which reliable and representative values of environmental impacts and costs can be obtained, ensuring that the system under assessment follows the direction of eco-efficiency. This study has evaluated the environmental and economic indicators of an autotrophic nitrogen removal technology (ELAN®) from laboratory conception (1.5 L) to full scale (2 units of 115 m3) using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Indirect emissions related to electricity consumption are the main contributor in all impact categories except eutrophication. Electricity consumption referred to the functional unit (1 m3 of treated wastewater) decreases as the scale increases. The rationale behind this can be explained, among other reasons, by the low energy efficiency of small-scale equipment (pumps and aerators). Accordingly, a value of approximately 25 kg CO2eq per m3 of treated water is determined for laboratory scale, compared to only 5 kg CO2eq per m3 at full-scale. When it comes to assessing the reliability of data, a pilot scale system of 0.2 m3 allowed to perform a trustworthy estimation of environmental indicators, which were validated at full-scale. In terms of operational costs, the scale of approximately 1 m3 provided a more accurate estimate of the costs associated with energy consumption.

Environmental and sustainability evaluation of livestock waste management practices in Cyprus.

The aim of this study was to compare the environmental performance and sustainability of different management options for livestock waste in Cyprus. The two most common practices in the country, i.e. the use of anaerobic lagoons and conventional biogas plants, were compared with the innovative scheme developed in the LiveWaste project (LIFE12 ENV/CY/000544), which aims not only to produce bioenergy, but also to treat the digestate for nutrient recovery and water reuse. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was combined with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to compare the performance of these alternatives. Four relevant indicators were selected for each dimension of sustainability (environmental, social and economic). The results of the evaluations showed that anaerobic lagoons are not an appropriate option for the sustainable management of livestock waste due to environmental (e.g. climate change, acidification and eutrophication) and social impacts (e.g. noise exposure, visual impact and risk perception for human health). The most important strengths and weaknesses of anaerobic treatment with and without digestate treatment were identified. Compared to conventional anaerobic digestion where digestate is directly applied as an organic fertiliser, the technology proposed in the project entails higher technological complexity due to nitrogen removal and phosphorus recovery. The rise in chemical and electricity requirements increased the impacts on some indicators, such as climate change and operational cost (emissions of greenhouse gases and operation costs were around 50% higher), while reduced impacts in others due to proper nutrient management, as acidification and eutrophication impacts (which were 10 and almost two times lower, respectively). For the specific Cypriot conditions, where the overapplication of nutrients leads to pollution of water bodies, the innovative treatment scheme with higher technological development presents an interesting approach. Nevertheless, the treatment of the digestate should be analysed taking into account the specific characteristics of each scenario.

Integrating uncertainties to the combined environmental and economic assessment of algal biorefineries: A Monte Carlo approach.

The economic and environmental performance of microalgal processes has been widely analyzed in recent years. However, few studies propose an integrated process-based approach to evaluate economic and environmental indicators simultaneously. Biodiesel is usually the single product and the effect of environmental benefits of co-products obtained in the process is rarely discussed. In addition, there is wide variation of the results due to inherent variability of some parameters as well as different assumptions in the models and limited knowledge about the processes. In this study, two standardized models were combined to provide an integrated simulation tool allowing the simultaneous estimation of economic and environmental indicators from a unique set of input parameters. First, a harmonized scenario was assessed to validate the joint environmental and techno-economic model. The findings were consistent with previous assessments. In a second stage, a Monte Carlo simulation was applied to evaluate the influence of variable and uncertain parameters in the model output, as well as the correlations between the different outputs. The simulation showed a high probability of achieving favorable environmental performance for the evaluated categories and a minimum selling price ranging from $11gal-1 to $106gal-1. Greenhouse gas emissions and minimum selling price were found to have the strongest positive linear relationship, whereas eutrophication showed weak correlations with the other indicators (namely greenhouse gas emissions, cumulative energy demand and minimum selling price). Process parameters (especially biomass productivity and lipid content) were the main source of variation, whereas uncertainties linked to the characterization methods and economic parameters had limited effect on the results.

Environmental assessment of farm-scaled anaerobic co-digestion for bioenergy production.

The aim of this study was to assess the environmental profile of a bioenergy system based on a co-digestion plant using maize silage and pig slurry as substrates. All the processes involved in the production of bioenergy as well as the avoided processes accrued from the biogas production system were evaluated. The results evidenced the environmental importance of the cultivation step and the environmental credits associated to the avoided processes. In addition, this plant was compared with two different plants that digest both substrates separately. The results revealed the environmental benefits of the utilisation of pig slurry due to the absence of environmental burdens associated with its production as well as credits provided when avoiding its conventional management. The results also presented the environmental drawbacks of the utilisation of maize silage due to the environmental burdens related with its production. Accordingly, the anaerobic mono-digestion of maize silage achieved the worst results. The co-digestion of both substrates was ranked in an intermediate position. Additionally, three possible digestate management options were assessed. The results showed the beneficial effect of digestate application as an organic fertiliser, principally on account of environmental credits due to avoided mineral fertilisation. However, digestate application involves important acidifying and eutrophicating emissions.

Selection of odour removal technologies in wastewater treatment plants: a guideline based on Life Cycle Assessment.

This paper aims at analysing the environmental benefits and impacts associated with the treatment of malodorous emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to two biological treatments, namely biofilter (BF) and biotrickling filter (BTF), two physical/chemical alternatives, namely activated carbon tower (AC) and chemical scrubber (CS), and a hybrid combination of BTF + AC. The assessment provided consistent guidelines for technology selection, not only based on removal efficiencies, but also on the environmental impact associated with the treatment of emissions. The results showed that biological alternatives entailed the lowest impacts. On the contrary, the use of chemicals led to the highest impacts for CS. Energy use was the main contributor to the impact related to BF and BTF, whereas the production of glass fibre used as infrastructure material played an important role in BTF impact. Production of NaClO entailed the highest burdens among the chemicals used in CS, representing ∼ 90% of the impact associated to chemicals. The frequent replacement of packing material in AC was responsible for the highest environmental impacts, granular activated carbon (GAC) production and its final disposal representing more than 50% of the impact in most categories. Finally, the assessment of BTF + AC showed that the hybrid technology is less recommendable than BF and BTF, but friendlier to the environment than physical/chemical treatments.

Comparative environmental assessment of valorization strategies of the invasive macroalgae Sargassum muticum.

The invasive brown seaweed Sargassum muticum (Yendo) exhibits a significant content of phenolic compounds, polysaccharides and fucoxanthin, with potential biological activities. In this study, four valorization strategies for S. muticum biomass were compared under a life cycle perspective. Depending on the alternative, three products were obtained: sodium alginate, antioxidant extract and fucoxanthin-containing extract. Regardless of the approach, the combined extraction of alginate and antioxidant from wet algae constituted the most efficient scenario. Among the stages, supercritical extraction of fucoxanthin and non-isothermal autohydrolysis were identified as the major environmental burdens due to electricity consumption. Although changes in product distribution fairly affected the environmental impacts of the scenarios, the single extraction of antioxidant fraction and the integral valorization to obtain fucoxanthin, alginate and antioxidant were only competitive when considering a functional unit based on the value of the products through an economic allocation approach instead of the amount of valorized algae.

Life cycle assessment of European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus) consumption. A case study for Galicia (NW Spain).

European pilchard or sardines (Sardina pilchardus) are an attractive raw material to extract from Iberian waters, since they constitute a cheap source of protein and they are a popular product among consumers. This has led to a wide range of final products available for consumers to purchase based on this single raw material. Therefore, this study presents a cross-product environmental assessment using life cycle assessment of three different final products based on sardine landings: canned sardines, fresh sardines and European hake caught by using sardine as bait. In addition, the products were followed throughout their entire life cycle, considering different cooking methods for each final product. Results showed high variability in environmental impacts, not only between the three final products, but also when one single product was cooked in different ways, highlighting the importance that the consumption phase and other post-landing stages may have on the final environmental profile of seafood. Results are then analysed regarding relevant limitations and uncertainties, as well as in terms of the consumer and policy implications.