ENVIRONMENTAL LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS (LCA): IMPOSSIBLE CHICKEN NUGGETS MADE FROM PLANTS
Our mission at Impossible Foods is to transform the global food system and reduce the impact of climate change by making the world’s most delicious, nutritious, and sustainable meat, fish, and dairy products from plants — with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals. With each new product category we launch, we produce Life Cycle Assessment (or as they’re known in the industry, LCAs) to show the overall impact of our products compared to animal meat.
Each LCA we produce reflects the impact and emissions contributions throughout our supply chain for each product. We factor in the impact from ingredient sourcing, packaging, manufacturing, and operations to measure our products’ total footprint across land, water and greenhouse gas emissions.
To understand the environmental benefits of choosing Impossible Chicken Nuggets over animal chicken nuggets, we worked with third-party consultants to generate a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the product. The LCA study evaluated Impossible Chicken Nuggets products (retail consumption and restaurant-type food service) against functionally equivalent animal-based benchmarks in the U.S. and Europe.
Here’s a summary of that analysis, with the full analysis available for download below.
OVERVIEW: IMPOSSIBLE CHICKEN NUGGETS HAVE A FAR SMALLER ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT THAN ANIMAL CHICKEN NUGGETS
The LCA for Impossible Chicken Nuggets found that, compared to animal chicken nuggets produced in the U.S., Impossible Chicken Nuggets Made From Plants:
Generate 36% less greenhouse gases
Require 48% - 49% less land area in a year
Have a 43% - 44% lower water footprint
Generate 47% less aquatic eutrophication
The LCA for Impossible Chicken Nuggets found that, compared to typical animal chicken nuggets manufacturing processes in Europe, Impossible Chicken Nuggets Made From Plants:
Generate 24% less greenhouse gases
Require 24% less land area in a year
Have a 55% lower water footprint
Generate 71% less aquatic eutrophication
The results of the LCA studies clearly show that our plant-based chicken nuggets have a far lighter footprint on planet earth compared to animal chicken nuggets produced in the U.S. or Europe. Our Impact Calculator(opens in a new tab) is already updated to include Impossible Chicken Nuggets, and to help show what a difference every meal can make.
Interested in learning more? You can find the full results of this LCA in the downloadable PDF below.
QUESTIONS?
Reach out to us at [email protected]