Plant-based vs. animal-based meats: A life cycle assessment
This life cycle assessment examines the environmental impacts of plant-based meats made with different ingredients and methods. It also compares to animal meats to understand their potential to improve food system sustainability.
Explore the reports
Dig into our LCA report and the technical, policy, and marketing summaries.
Plant-based meat can significantly improve the sustainability and efficiency of the food system
To address climate change, pollution, resource depletion, and food security, we must reduce the environmental impacts of food production, particularly meat production. Alternative proteins—meat made from plants, cultivated from animal cells, or produced via fermentation—offer consumers the foods they love made with more sustainable protein sources. With its growing market share and widespread accessibility, plant-based meat is a key part of a reimagined protein supply.
To evaluate the potential of plant-based meat to reduce the environmental impacts of the food system, we commissioned EarthShift Global to complete a comprehensive, ISO-certified life cycle assessment (LCA). This LCA is the most comprehensive, open-access LCA conducted to date (2024).
Key findings
- Plant-based meat provides the same amount of meat while reducing pressure on the environment. Plant-based meat has, on average, 91% lower impacts than beef, 88% lower impacts than pork, and 71% lower impacts than chicken.
- Plant-based meat is significantly more efficient and emits less air and water pollution. On average, plant-based meat uses 79% less land, 95% less water, and reduces water pollution by 93% compared to animal meat.
- Plant-based meat provides significant environmental benefits, across a range of inputs and production methods. Using real-world commercial data, plant-based meats consistently show lower impacts across different ingredients, protein sources, and production methods, and can be scaled with minimal natural resources.
Check out the data dashboard
Dig into the environmental impact data for the animal and plant-based meats in our interactive Tableau dashboards. You can download the data, create custom figures, and explore the contributions of different ingredients, stages, and processes.
All systems dashboard
This dashboard compares the environmental impacts across and between plant-based and animal-based meat systems.
Single system dashboard
This dashboard breaks down the contribution of ingredients, production stages, and processing steps to the environmental impacts within a system.
Event
Comparative life cycle assessment of plant- and animal-based meats
Join us for a webinar on December 3rd to explore the most comprehensive, open-access LCA of plant-based meat to date.
Explore the reports
Technical summary
Explore this technical report highlighting the key results and R&D opportunities of the ISO-certified LCA report.
Policy action paper
Explore this action paper–intended for policymakers–summarizing the key results of the ISO-certified LCA and outlining recommended actions to maximize the sustainability benefits of plant-based meat.
Marketing summary
Explore this summary aimed at marketing professionals, which offers key insights and graphics to promote the environmental benefits of plant-based meat, backed by this ISO-certified LCA.
About EarthShift Global
EarthShift Global is a leader in LCA and sustainability consulting, software, and training. Their goal is to empower organizations to confidently make impactful, fact-based decisions that profitably shift their organizations and sustainability performance.
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Plant Protein Primer
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Plant-based meat: Anticipating 2030 production requirements
In this in-depth report, we anticipate plant-based meat production requirements by 2030 to enable early identification of potential bottlenecks for ingredients, infrastructure, and investment needs.
