Environmental and health-related external costs of meat consumption in Italy: estimations and recommendations through life cycle assessment

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2023-04, Vol.869, p.161773, Article 161773
• Main Authors: Arrigoni, Alessandro, Marveggio, Davide, Allievi, Francesca, Dotelli, Giovanni, Scaccabarozzi, Guido
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Animals; Cattle; Environment; External cost; Food; Humans; Italy; LCA; Life cycle assessment; Meat; Monetization
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161773

The literature on the external costs of food consumption is limited. This study aims at advancing in this field by translating the environmental and health-related impacts generated by the life-cycle of meat into external costs via monetization. The main types of meat consumed in Italy are used as a case study. The potential external costs are estimated via attributional life cycle assessment (LCA), using: i) the ReCiPe method for the environmental impact assessment (fourteen impact categories), ii) the population attributional fractions for the health damage from meat ingestion, and iii) the CE Delft environmental prices for monetization. Results show that processed pork and beef generate the highest costs on society, with an external cost of approximately 2€ per 100 g. Fresh pork and poultry follow, with a cost of 1€ and 0.5€ per 100 g, respectively. For comparison, the potential external costs of legumes (i.e., a plant-based alternative to meat) are estimated to be from eight to twenty times lower than meat (around 0.05€ per 100 g of legumes). In 2018, meat consumed in Italy potentially generated a cost on society of 36.6 bn€. The burden arises almost equally from impacts generated before meat ingestion (mainly associated with the emissions arisen from farming), and after the ingestion (due to diseases potentially associated with meat consumption). A sensitivity analysis on the main parameters revealed a large uncertainty on the final yearly cost, ranging from 19 to 93 bn€. Although more research is needed to improve the accuracy and the validity of the models used in the study (e.g., human health impact assessment, monetization) and to include potential external costs currently unaccounted for (e.g., water use, animal welfare, occupational health), results show unequivocal significant costs associated with meat consumption. We thus advocate for policies aimed at reducing these costs and allocating them properly. [Display omitted] •Lifecycle environmental and health-related impact of meat consumption are monetized.•Beef and processed pork generate an external cost of 2€/100 g, poultry 0.5€/100 g.•Legumes generate an external cost from 8 to 20 times lower than meat.•The external cost of meat consumption in Italy in 2018 was estimated in 36.6 bn€.•We advocate for policies aimed at reducing external costs and allocating them properly.