Environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of Swedish semi-hard cheese

An environmental life cycle assessment was performed to investigate the environmental consequences of the life cycle of Hushallsost, a semi-hard cheese. The assessment identified those activities that contribute most to the cheese's environmental impact throughout its life cycle from extraction of ingredients to waste management. Milk production at the farm was identified as having the greatest environmental impact, followed by cheesemaking at the dairy, retailing, and the production of plastic wrapping. The environmental impact could be reduced by minimising wastage of milk and cheese throughout the life cycle, without any effect on the quality of the product. Increasing the yield of cheese would also bring about substantial improvements as less milk would have to be produced on farms. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.