Sustainability: Present and future of the Spanish pork sector
The success achieved in the last 30 years by the white-coated pig sector in reducing its environmental footprint is unquestionable. Faced with hoaxes and unproven half-truths used by some anti-meat groups, official data show a truth that reflects a sector, companies and professionals concerned about the continuous improvement of production processes.
A concern and professionalism that has allowed producers to achieve notable results in environmental matters throughout the pork value chain.
Work has been done holistically on the efficiency of use of natural resources such as water, on the composition of feed, on the use of energy, on the valorization of by-products such as slurry or on the logistics management of movements of animals and meat. .
This has translated into successes such as the reduction, between 1990 and 2021, of 30% in the use of water per kilo of meat produced.
Furthermore, as can be extracted from the data from the National Inventory of Greenhouse Gases and the National Inventory of Atmospheric Pollutants (1990-2021), published this year by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), the Ammonia emissions have decreased by 34.8% and GHG emissions per head of livestock have decreased by 43.9%.
From that same report we can extract what is perhaps the data that best reflects the real situation in the environmental section of the pork sector: that it is only responsible for 2.43% of the total gases emitted in Spain.
A figure very far from what is usually attributed to the sector and, above all, very far from the two-digit percentages that correspond to other sectors of activity.
It is undeniable that the situation is much better than what some forums want to imply, but it is also necessary to understand that there is no stopping this issue.
For this reason, the Interprofessional of the White Coated Pig (INTERPORC) is working on a roadmap that marks the path of continuous improvement in environmental matters.
An analysis that provides pork companies with the help and information they need to continue reaching milestones in their goal of efficiency and reduction of the environmental footprint in all links of the chain. And, what is almost as important, it will also include how to monitor the progress, so that the best decisions can be made at all times aimed at achieving the set objectives.
The work is structured in four large areas:
The white pork sector has integrated environmental sustainability into its DNA and has demanded environmental excellence. Along these lines, the white coat pork sector continues working to continue responding to the growing legislative and social demands in this matter.
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