Life Cycle Assessment of Oat Flake Production with Two End-of-Life Options for Agro-Industrial Residue Management

Canada is one of the world’s largest producers oat (Avena sativa L.) grains and their derivatives, such as flakes. During flake production, considerable amounts residue are generated, which constitutes a major issue for producers. We applied life cycle assessment (LCA): (1) to quantify environmental impacts flakes production in northeastern (2) compare two agro-industrial symbiosis scenarios agricultural residues (transformation into feed farm animals vs. composting). LCA results indicated that largely dominated by use synthetic fertilisers (contributing at least 50% impact each evaluated category). Regarding end-of-life scenarios, an advantage observed scenario transformation animal provinces Quebec Manitoba. However, this recommendation may change depending on electricity mix used assumptions made avoided products. The choice industrial chains must take consideration economic characteristics region where they will be implemented methodological parameters can influence decision-making process.