Measuring Sustainability Performance for Plant-Based Protein

This webinar educates sustainability practitioners and stakeholders on how life-cycle assessment studies and similar tools are used to demonstrate the case for plant-based proteins and milks as climate solutions.

Beyond Meat and Oatly have both been approved as Climate Solutions through the Exponential Roadmap Initiative. An LCA by Michigan-based Positive Scenarios Consulting has provided justification for substantial emissions-reduction claims on Beyond Meat products. Oatly shows how its products are contributing to societal net zero.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how proven Life-Cycle Assessment tools are used to justify sustainability claims.
• Learn how plant-based meat alternatives can generate significantly less greenhouse gas emissions from leading brands.
• Understand how companies such as Beyond Meat and Oatly are utilizing benchmarks, third-party registries and measurement to promote products as climate solutions.

Speakers:

• Brittany Szczepanik, Co-founder & Owner, Positive Scenarios Consulting, LLC
• Erin Augustine, Vice President of Global Sustainability, Oatly

Life Cycle Assessment 101

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a standardized methodology used to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with a product throughout defined stages of its life cycle. While many people associate LCAs with a “cradle-to-grave” analysis, studies can examine different portions of a product’s life cycle depending on the intended goal. 

The presenters emphasized that LCAs are defined by their scope, system boundaries, data requirements, and ultimately what environmental claims can be made. Depending on the application, an assessment may evaluate only manufacturing processes, raw material sourcing through production (“cradle-to-gate”), transportation and distribution, or the complete life cycle through end-of-life disposal.

Quantifying the Benefits of Plant-Based Protein

Positive Scenarios Consulting partnered with Beyond Meat to conduct a comparative life cycle assessment of Beyond Steak Plant-Based Seared Tips against a comparable beef steak product. The primary goal of the study was to independently verify the environmental benefits of the product, support marketing claims, and identify opportunities for future sustainability improvements within Beyond Meat’s operations.

The assessment focused on three primary stages:

• Raw material production
• Manufacturing
• Transportation and distribution

The results demonstrated that Beyond Steak generated 84% lower greenhouse gas emissions than the comparable beef product across the assessed life cycle stages. Even when uncertainty ranges were incorporated into the analysis, the plant-based product clearly showed substantially lower emissions through its life cycle.

The study also identified important emissions “hotspots.” For conventional beef, the overwhelming majority of greenhouse gas emissions originated during raw material production, particularly livestock production. For Beyond Steak, impacts were distributed more evenly across ingredient sourcing, manufacturing, and logistics, providing the company with clearer opportunities for future emissions reductions. 

Product Carbon Footprints and Consumer Transparency

While LCA’s provide comprehensive environmental assessments, Product Carbon Footprints focus specifically on greenhouse gas emissions and are increasingly being used to communicate climate performance directly to consumers. Oatly, a Sweden-based oat beverage manufacturer, uses PCFs across its product portfolio to quantify the emissions associated with individual oat milk products and compare them with conventional dairy and dairy alternatives. These carbon footprint calculations are supported by the same underlying life cycle assessment methodology and are published alongside detailed documentation explaining the assumptions, system boundaries, and comparison methods. 

By publishing product-level carbon footprints, Oatly seeks to increase transparency while encouraging broader adoption of standardized carbon reporting throughout the food industry. The company also uses PCFs internally to identify supply chain improvements and reduce emissions through sourcing, manufacturing, and logistics decisions. 

Both presenters noted that publicly available carbon footprint data can also foster healthy competition between companies, encouraging continual improvements in product sustainability as the alternative milk industry competes against traditional dairy.

Climate Solutions Across the Life Cycle

Beyond Meat and Oatly have used their life cycle assessments to qualify products under the Exponential Roadmap Initiative Climate Solutions Framework. Under this framework, products must demonstrate at least a 50 percent lower greenhouse gas footprint than comparable products within their market category to qualify as climate solutions. 

Companies seeking the Climate Solutions designation must also demonstrate that the vast majority of their revenue comes from qualifying products while maintaining broader climate commitments and supporting sector-wide decarbonization efforts. 

Because comparative life cycle assessments require significant time, expertise, and independent review, companies should first identify the specific sustainability objective they hope to achieve. In many cases, a simpler carbon footprint, targeted environmental claims, recycled content verification, or participation in other programs may provide a greater value than a full comparative LCA. Selecting the right measurement approach depends on business goals, customer expectations, available resources, and the specific sustainability attributes being communicated. 

Food accounts for a significant share of household greenhouse gas emissions, with meat and dairy representing the majority of those impacts within the average U.S. diet. While large dietary shifts can substantially reduce emissions, the speakers emphasized that incremental changes such as occasionally replacing beef or dairy with plant-based alternatives also contribute to lower overall carbon footprints.

Rather than focusing solely on environmental messaging, successful products make sustainable choices accessible, affordable, and enjoyable, helping consumers adopt lower-carbon habits through convenience and taste as much as environmental awareness.