Instant Insights: Environmental Impact of Poultry Production

Dr Vincent Guyonnet is an Invited Scientist at the University of Montreal and Managing Director of FFI Consulting in Canada. In a distinguished career spanning both industry and research, Dr Guyonnet has represented the global egg sector with the World Organisation for Animal Health (founded as OIE), the FAO and World Bank.Dr Steven C. Ricke is Professor and Director of the Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery Program (MSABD) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. He was formerly the Donald ‘Buddy’ Wray Chair in Food Safety and Director of the Center for Food Safety in the Department of Food Science at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. The recipient of numerous awards for his research on poultry meat safety, Professor Ricke is editor of two previous books for Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing: Achieving sustainable production of poultry meat Volume 1: Safety, quality and sustainability (2017) and Improving gut health in poultry (2019).

• Chapter 1 - Assessing and reducing the environmental impact of egg production systems: Vincent Guyonnet and Audrey E.M. Guyonnet, FFI Consulting, Canada; 1 Introduction2 Life cycle assessment: methodology and impact categories3 Environmental footprint of shell eggs: climate change4 Environmental footprint of shell eggs: land use change5 Environmental footprint of shell eggs: emissions causing acidification and eutrophication6 Environmental footprint of shell eggs: water footprint7 Environmental footprint of shell eggs: other impact categories8 Mitigation strategies: crop production, feed formulation and feed conversion9 Mitigation strategies: bird management and health10 Mitigation strategies: manure management11 Mitigation strategies: housing systems12 Conclusion and future trends13 Where to look for further information14 References Chapter taken from: Alamprese, C., Nys, Y., Mine, Y. and Guyonnet, V. (eds.), Advances in improving the safety and quality of eggs, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2025, (ISBN 978 1 80146 875 6)Chapter 2 - Life cycle assessment (LCA) of poultry meat production: Ilkka Leinonen, Kirsi Usva and Sanna Hietala, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland; 1 Introduction2 Background and principles of the life cycle assessment framework3 LCA environmental impact categories4 Assessing the environmental impacts of different stages of the poultry production chain5 Options to improve the environmental sustainability of poultry production6 Conclusion7 Where to look for further information8 References Chapter taken from: Ricke, S. C. (ed.), Improving poultry meat safety and sustainability, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2025, (ISBN 978 1 80146 789 6)Chapter 3 - Strategies and solutions to reduce emissions from layer production systems in Europe: Cécile M. Levrault and Peter W. G. Groot Koerkamp, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands; 1 Introduction2 Environmental issues related to layer production3 Direct emissions originating from layer production4 Emissions targets: the European Union5 Animal-related factors affecting ammonia and particulate matter (PM) emissions6 Physicochemical factors affecting ammonia and particulate matter emissions7 Practical solutions for emissions mitigation: diet and genetics8 Practical solutions for emissions mitigation: manure and litter management9 Practical solutions for emissions mitigation: ventilation, filtration and acid scrubbing10 Case study: the ECO Air Care ventilation system11 Conclusion: the options available12 Future trends and research needs13 Where to look for further information14 References Chapter taken from: Alamprese, C., Nys, Y., Mine, Y. and Guyonnet, V. (eds.), Advances in improving the safety and quality of eggs, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2025, (ISBN 978 1 80146 875 6)Chapter 4 - Waste management in egg production: Ruihong Zhang, University of California-Davis, USA and Hamed M. El-Mashad, Mansoura University, Egypt; 1 Introduction2 Characteristics of waste and wastewater3 Methods for treating waste and wastewater: anaerobic digestion4 Methods for treating waste and wastewater: aerobic treatments5 Methods for treating waste and wastewater: thermochemical processes, burial, rendering and land application6 Laboratory study of co-digestion of laying hen manure and mortality7 Summary and research needs8 Where to look for further information9 References Chapter taken from: Roberts, J. (ed.), Achieving sustainable production of eggs – Volume 2: Animal welfare and sustainability, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2017, (ISBN 978 1 78676 080 7)Chapter 5 - Valorizing byproducts from broiler processing: biologics and sustainability: S.C. Ricke, V.A. Leone and A.A. Tarcin, University of Wisconsin- Madison, USA; 1 Introduction2 Poultry processing: general concepts3 Treatment of poultry byproducts and waste: live bird production4 Treatment of poultry byproducts and waste: rendering5 Biologics from broiler processing: general concepts6 Biologics from blood7 Biologics from skin8 Feathers as a poultry byproduct9 Conclusion and future trends10 Where to look for further information11 References Chapter taken from: Ricke, S. C. (ed.), Improving poultry meat safety and sustainability, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2025, (ISBN 978 1 80146 789 6)