Life Cycle Assessment of Novel Bread Containing Upcycled Apple Pomace

Sammanfattning

This study evaluates the life cycle environmental impacts of producing rye bread containing upcycled apple pomace (AP) and compares the results with those of conventional rye bread. A comparative, attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted using six ReCiPe 2016 midpoint indicators and a cradle-to-bakery-gate system boundary. Two functional units were applied: 1 kilogram of bread and 100 grams of dietary fiber. For the 1-kg functional unit, two allocation approaches for AP were modeled: zero-burden and mass-based allocation. For the dietary-fiber functional unit, the two allocation approaches were combined with upper and lower estimates of AP fiber content from the literature, resulting in four scenarios. Across all 1-kilogram scenarios, the AP bread showed lower environmental impacts than the reference rye bread. The largest reductions occurred under the zero-burden scenario. For the dietary-fiber functional unit, all scenarios also resulted in environmental reductions except one: the combination of low fiber content and mass-based allocation for AP production, in which freshwater eutrophication and water consumption increased slightly. A national-scale estimate suggests that valorizing the approximately 9.1 tonnes of AP generated annually in Sweden could replace ingredients in roughly 114,000 loaves of bread and prevent 15.5 tonnes of ingredient use, leading to notable reductions in global warming potential, land use, and water consumption. The study’s results indicate that incorporating upcycled AP into bread production offers meaningful environmental benefits and supports broader goals related to circular food systems, food loss and waste reduction, and Swedish food security.