Samenvatting

Dairy and other animal products play an important role in the diet of the majority of the population. However, there are a lot of sustainability concerns regarding dairy production due to high environmental impacts. Therefore, there is a need to develop a more sustainable dairy substitute. One of the possible methods that recently gained attention is precision fermentation. This research project is a part of the larger project, funded by the NWA, focused on using precision fermentation to produce sustainable animal-free yeast-based caseins (YBC) for cheese production. Within this explorative study, a True Cost Accounting (TCA) framework is used to assess the environmental, social, and human sustainability of animal-free caseins compared to the ones derived from bovine milk. TCA is an innovative approach for the accountancy of external costs, in which these current external costs are internalized and monetized. The scope of this research does not include monetization but focuses on identifying and describing the externalities. Furthermore, to assess the risks and possibilities of the development of YBC, scenarios for an inclusive transition are drafted.The research indicates that within the given scope the externalities of YBC and dairy products do not differ drastically, although the differences can be pointed out in the indicators of climate change, eutrophication, and human health. On the environmental level, the GHG emissions, due to the high energy requirements, and the N and P emissions, based on the location are the most critical factors and the ones where the greatest difference can potentially be done. For the social and human externalities, it is greatly depending on the design of the processes. Furthermore, as YBC production is still in an early stage of product development, there are opportunities for optimization and the implementation of sustainability aspects in further development. Regarding the inclusive transition from dairy to YBC, the necessity for the inclusion of different stakeholders and especially dairy farmers is highlighted. The four scenarios designed give indications of the different risks and how these can be possibly mitigated in different situations.Overall, the TCA framework has given good guidelines for comparing the two production processes, however, not all of the indicators are relevant for this product, while the addition of some aspects can potentially add a lot of value to the assessment. It is recommended for the consortium to further assess alternative frameworks (TCA as well as others) and understand their application of it in the future. It is also crucial to continuously reassess the sustainability aspects throughout product development. Furthermore, as already stressed during the previous project, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), it is important to identify suitable feedstock at an early stage and compare these based on environmental, social, and human externalities.