As part of its commitment to sustainability, Austral Group, in cooperation with the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP), presented the results of its Product Carbon Footprint for fishmeal and fish oil, showing that the marine ingredients produced by the company have a lower environmental impact compared to other products used in aquaculture.
Peruvian anchovy contributes 20% to the world's production of fishmeal and fish oil, thus contributing strategically to global aquaculture growth. “In this context, the study of the Product Carbon Footprint reaffirms the positioning of the Peruvian fishing industry as an international benchmark,” Austral Group said.
Scientific validation
The study prepared by the Peruvian Network for Life Cycle Analysis and Industrial Ecology (PELCAN) of the PUCP analyzed data from 2019 to 2021 recorded in Austral Group plants of Coishco (Áncash), Chancay (Lima), Pisco ( Ica) and Ilo (Moquegua), from extraction and processing to the transportation of these products, thus including the value chain as a whole, through a methodology based on the international standard ISO 14067.
This study represents the most precise study carried out to date for products derived from the Peruvian anchovy, as it includes not only data in the three aforementioned stages but also the three most used types of allocations – mass, energy and economic.
Adriana Giudice, CEO of Austral Group, highlighted that the results of this study demonstrate the effect of all the actions that the fishing company has been carrying out to reduce its emissions as part of its commitment to the fight against climate change. “We are sure that, by analyzing all stages of extraction, production and marketing, the study allows us to identify opportunities to reduce emissions and generate new actions that will be implemented by our Energy Efficiency Committee,” she stressed.
Findings
The study reported that the implementation of energy efficiency improvements the company has been implementing in the past few years has significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions, the most relevant being the change to natural gas carried out in all Austral Group plants located in the North-Central zone of the Peruvian coast.
Giudice recalled that the switch to natural gas in the boilers of its Pisco, Chancay and Coishco plants represented an investment of USD 4.7 million. Likewise, she pointed out that this project has generated an estimated emissions savings of 31,658 tons of carbon equivalent (TCO2eq), from its base year 2018 to date.
