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Poultry farming is often associated with negative environmental impacts, such as water quality degradation and greenhouse gas emissions. This study covers important gaps in the geographic scope of poultry farming using Life Cycle Assessment analysis. Data on animal feed, energy, packaging, and waste were collected from the poultry industry in Rondônia, Brazil. The life cycle inventory included all inflows and outflows of feed production, poultry housing, slaughter, processing, the retail market, and the functional unit of “1 kg chicken meat with 0.22 kg protein”. The ReCiPe Midpoint (H) method was used for seven categories of impact. The results showed that emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG, CO2, N2O and CH4) during the feed production phase was dominant, totaling 2.0 kg CO2-eq per kg of live weight produced. This stage was most relevant in six of seven categories of impacts assessed. During the poultry housing stage, terrestrial acidification was dominated by emissions of NH3, P and N2O from one-day-old chicks (hatching eggs, poultry house litter, and feed). The total environmental impact of producing broilers in Brazil amounted to 3.37 kg CO2-eq per kg of meat at the consumer market gate. The LPG gas and biological waste from slaughterhouses was dominant in this phase. The retail stage revealed contributions above 43% in all impact categories due to high consumption of electricity (0.11 kWh (0.39 MJ) per kg of meat). Three scenarios were proposed and demonstrated, using bi

Topic 1. Enhancement of water circularity in industries
Topic 2. Urban water circularity
Topic 3. Resource recovery and valorization
Topic 4. Economic, environmental and social implications of water reuse and recovered products

Chicken is the most widely produced meat in the world (
FAO, 2022), with meat production having tripled between 1990 and 2021, reaching 38.8 million Mg (
FAO, 2022) with a per capita consumption of 14.8 kg year−1 in 2021 (
OECD-FAO, 2022). For 2023, the USDA-FAS (2023) forecast global chicken production to be 2% higher, with Brazil finally surpassing China as the number one chicken meat-producing country in the world.From an economic perspective, according to market forecasts, chicken meat is expected to reach US$ 429 billion by 2028 (Wood, 2023), leading global meat production over the next decade. Chicken's position in the global meat marketplace is due in part to an increasing preference for white meat. In 2031, protein from poultry will comprise 47% of overall meat protein consumed (OECD-FAO, 2022).

amino acidenergyfeed productiongreenhouse gas

The Production system consists of a farm in Rondônia ( Fig. 1) with intensive production. Temperatures in poultry sheds are maintained by LPG gas (liquefied petroleum gas), manual feeders, automatic drinkers, nebulizers, fans, thermometers for temperature control, and screens and curtains. Feed consists of concentrate and mineral salt. Additional feed details and the main characteristics of the poultry housing and finishing system are presented in Supplementary Material (
Table 1
SM).