Assessment of Environmental Impacts from Different Perspectives—Case Study of Egg Value Chain System in Serbia

Abstract

The environmental performance of various aspects of animal origin food supply chains has been the focus of research in recent years, and has provided useful information. However, there were no studies that covered the entire egg supply chain from different perspectives. The aim of this study was to analyze the majority of environmental impacts in the table egg supply chain comprising of three subsystems: farms, retail outlets and households, with quantification of each individual subsystem and the entire supply chain. All data were gathered from 30 farms, 50 retail stores and 300 households in Serbia. In parallel, the perception and ranking of environmental impacts along the supply chain were also evaluated. Finally, the quality function deployment for the environment was used to determine the degree of correlation between the set of environmental requirements and the identified environmental impacts. Results revealed that the greatest environmental impacts come from the production of feed for laying hens and the use of natural resources, and they contribute the most to the pollution of each individual environmental indicator. Additionally, the results show the differences in the environmental impacts of each individual subsystem and identify opportunities to mitigate them through the optimization of animal feed, energy consumption and household food waste management. The overall perspective of the egg supply chain points to climate change effects as the most important. The differences in the perceptions of environmental impacts along the entire egg supply chain suggest the need for promotion of mitigation strategies to all stakeholders that would encourage them to achieve sustainable development goals.