Process information
| Key Data Set Information | |
| Location | CD-SC-CN |
| Geographical representativeness description | The milk source base is located at Hongya Country, Southwestern Sichuan Province, China, about 147 kilometres far from Chengdu City, the provincial capital. The diary processing plant is located at Pixian, suburb of Chengdu City, which is about 175 kilometres far from the milk source base. The branded milk is mainly distributed to the central Chengdu City, about 40 kilometres distances from the diary processing plant. The milk packaging waste is transported to the municipal landfill for final disposal, about 30 kilometres away from the central city. |
| Reference year | 2017 |
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| Use advice for data set | Users of this LCA data should focus only on the processes that directly contribute to pure milk production, specifically considering the inputs of energy and materials as well as the associated carbon emissions. Allocated system boundaries simplify the life cycle into raw milk production, dairy product processing, product transportation, and packaging waste disposal. Users must employ recycling for pre-treatment of packaging waste, refrain from incineration due to low heating values of aluminum-plastic composites, and consider landfill disposal as the final step, referencing carbon emission data from established inventories such as Cherubini et al. (2009). Methodologically, this study simplifies the life cycle impact assessment process and should be factored in when interpreting LCA results. |
| Technical purpose of product or process | This local branded pure milk production and packaging disposal process is designed for the generation of dairy products, specifically pure liquid milk distributed primarily within the Chengdu city center. The process includes the life cycle stages of raw milk production, dairy product processing, product transportation, and packaging waste disposal, with an emphasis on sustainability and minimizing the carbon footprint associated with each stage. The packaging materials are composed of aluminum-plastic composites, which are not designed for incineration due to low heating value and are instead directed towards recycling and final disposal in landfills. |
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| General comment on data set | Recycling is selected for the packaging waste pre-treatment. Because of the separation technique for aluminum-plastic composites usually with a lower heating value, these containers are not suitable for incineration |
| Copyright | No |
| Owner of data set | |
| Quantitative reference | |
| Reference flow(s) | |
| Functional Unit | The Tetra Pak 1litre pure liquid milk is selected to assess its lifecycle based carbon footprint. |
| Technological representativeness | |
| Technology description including background system | This study only focused on processes that directly contributed to pure milk production, that is, only the effects of energy and material input and carbon emissions, as shown in Figure 1. The system boundary of milk life cycle is thus simplified and divided into four stages, namely, raw milk production, dairy product processing, product transportation and packaging waste disposal. |
| Flow diagram(s) or picture(s) | |
Modelling and validation
Administrative information
Inputs and Outputs