In line with its commitment to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water and to reducing its dependency on marine ingredients, Alltech Coppens developed a sustainability scoring index for its feeds.

With this scoring index, the company is able to rank not only one type of raw material, such as fishmeal, but all forms of raw materials, resulting in a sustainability score-ranking for individual feeds. The score-ranking is established via a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) using several databases, including the Global Feed LCA Institute (GFLI).

“This scoring system aims to create awareness in the market and enable fish farmers to improve their environmental performance,” said Philip Lyons, global manager aquaculture research at Alltech Coppens. “The introduction of our sustainability scoring index and the extension of this index to include all feeds in our industrial assortment reflects our commitment to driving change within the aquaculture industry.”

The Alltech Coppens sustainability scoring index utilizes ReCiPe 2016, developed in co-operation with RIVM, Radboud University Nijmegen, Leiden University and Pré Consultants, alongside the GFLI database. The resulting score reflects the feed’s carbon footprint and its impact based on other environmental aspects, such as water use, eutrophication and marine resource sustainability. Its modeling methods are compliant with the European Union’s Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules for Feed (PEFCR).

Alltech Coppens assessed the impact of all of its industrial feeds based on the raw materials used in feed production, the geographical location of each ingredient supplier, expected on-farm feed performance (FCR), in addition to internal and external databases and information sources. The combined result is the Alltech Coppens sustainability scoring index, in which the diets are categorized based on the total environmental impact score, and the feeds with the lowest impact score are placed in category A.

By providing a better understanding of the sustainability of various raw materials, this scoring index will allow the company to make more informed decisions related to feed formulation. Alltech Coppens continues to assess the criteria necessary to provide sustainable products and responsibly sourced raw materials.

More information on Alltech’s sustainability scoring here.