Latte Arborea Società Benefit, a Sardinian cooperative leader in UHT milk and the local dairy market, has implemented a system for assessing the environmental impact of the life cycle (Life Cycle Assessment, LCA) of the raw milk produced by its member companies. This analysis, conducted with the Department of Agriculture of the University of Sassari and compliant with the UNI EN ISO 14040 – 14044 standards, highlights a carbon footprint of 1,22 kg of CO₂eq per kg of milk. The LCA certification, recognized at European level and by the FAO, guarantees a complete assessment of the environmental impact of production.
Cooperativa Arborea has demonstrated that, in addition to environmental sustainability, improving economic efficiency is reflected in a reduction of environmental impact. Comparing the Carbon Footprint and Income Over Feed Cost (IOFC) indices, it emerges that dairy companies with high IOFC indices, and therefore more solid, also show a lower Carbon Footprint. This result supports breeders in optimizing costs and reducing environmental impact, responding to the sector's needs to increase productivity per head by improving efficiency.
Remigio Sequi, President of the Cooperative, underlines the importance of LCA studies and certifications to set future sustainability goals and improve resource management, with benefits not only for individual companies but for the entire Sardinian agri-food district. The Cooperative's sustainability program is broad and includes several areas: reducing the use of plastic with innovative packaging, expanding photovoltaic capacity in the plant and in member companies, and initiatives that aim at environmental responsibility.
