{"id":26461,"date":"2026-11-04T18:08:35","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T17:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/measure-to-improve-a-new-tool-helps-the-beef-industry-identify-and-reduce-its-emissions\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T18:19:34","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T17:19:34","slug":"measure-to-improve-a-new-tool-helps-the-beef-industry-identify-and-reduce-its-emissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/measure-to-improve-a-new-tool-helps-the-beef-industry-identify-and-reduce-its-emissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Measure to improve: a new tool helps the beef industry identify and reduce its emissions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the launch of a module for the livestock sector last spring, the Interprofessional Organization for Beef (PROVACUNO) has now introduced a module for slaughterhouses and cutting plants designed to measure and reduce carbon footprints. This tool is available on a single digital platform: huellavacunosostenible.eu.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new industrial module functions as a pre-calculated draft, based on national research within the meat sector and official coefficients provided by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO). It also features an automated API connection to the companies’ ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This initiative\u2014which enables businesses to audit their environmental impact per kilogram of fresh meat and strengthens the sector’s competitiveness in the eyes of both consumers and major retail chains\u2014is part of the “Sustainable European Beef” (SEUB) promotion plan. The plan is co-financed by the EU and led by PROVACUNO (Spain) and Apaq-W (Belgium).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Which processes account for the carbon footprint of a meat processing business? Where should action be taken to reduce it? Having data is the first step towards answering these questions and making decisions. With this aim, PROVACUNO has launched the industrial module of its <\/strong>Huella Vacuno Sostenible<\/strong><\/a> web application<\/strong>, bringing slaughterhouses and cutting plants into the calculation of emissions across the beef supply chain.<\/p>\n

The tool expands the functionality of the livestock module, available since last spring for suckler cow farms and cattle fattening farms. Its usefulness for the sector goes beyond obtaining a figure: it makes it possible to identify the processes with the greatest impact, establish priorities for action and monitor how emissions evolve over time<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A starting point for decision-making<\/h3>\n

The new module facilitates a task that requires collecting and analysing information from different areas of the business: transport, energy, refrigeration, water treatment, and waste and by-product management.<\/p>\n

To simplify the initial calculation, the application generates an estimate based on the number of animals processed over a period and their average weight<\/strong>. Using these data, it proposes a draft of consumption figures and environmental impacts that the facility\u2019s technical staff must review and adjust using actual information, such as electricity, gas and water bills or waste management documentation.<\/p>\n

This system provides a working basis and facilitates data collection. Validation against each company\u2019s records is essential to ensure that the calculation reflects its activity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

From farm to industry, a connected view<\/h3>\n

One of the platform\u2019s main contributions is the connection between the livestock and industrial modules. This integration brings together information from farms and the processing plant to advance the environmental traceability of beef<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The methodology was developed with the collaboration of the NEIKER<\/strong> technology centre and incorporates the European PEF \u2014Product Environmental Footprint\u2014<\/strong> methodology, international databases and official emission factors from Spain\u2019s Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.<\/p>\n

The analysis covers emission sources such as livestock transport, holding pens, energy consumption, refrigerants, wastewater treatment and animal by-product management.<\/p>\n

Less manual work and greater monitoring capacity<\/h3>\n

To facilitate its use in daily operations, the tool offers the possibility of connecting via an API to meat companies\u2019 enterprise resource planning systems \u2014ERP\u2014<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This connection enables the automated exchange of information, such as weighbridge readings, energy consumption and incoming livestock records. Integration can reduce manual work and facilitate updates to the data used in the calculation.<\/p>\n

The results are compiled in a technical report that breaks down carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions and allows the footprint to be expressed per kilogram of product. It also includes comparisons with sector benchmarks or the facility\u2019s own historical records<\/strong>, useful for identifying opportunities for improvement and tracking progress.<\/p>\n

A tool supporting continuous improvement<\/h3>\n

For beef businesses, having this information can help guide investments, review processes and support communication of their environmental progress with data<\/strong>. It also makes it possible to assess whether the measures adopted succeed in reducing emissions.<\/p>\n

Javier L\u00f3pez, director of PROVACUNO, highlights that the expansion into the industrial sphere makes it possible to address measurement across the entire value chain and help livestock farmers and processors introduce improvements to their processes.<\/p>\n

The initiative forms part of the European Sustainable European Beef (SEUB)<\/strong> programme, under which PROVACUNO and Apaq-W are running the campaign \u201cFor a Sustainable Europe. The special mission of beef\u201d, co-funded by the European Union.<\/p>\n

As a complement, the sector has access to the Code of Good Environmental Practices in Industry<\/strong>, offering guidance on optimising processing operations. Both initiatives seek to support the beef supply chain as it progresses towards the goal of climate neutrality by 2050.<\/p>\n

Access the tool:<\/strong> huellavacunosostenible.eu<\/a>
\nInformation about the campaign and good practices:<\/strong> vacunosostenible.eu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following the launch of a module for the livestock sector last spring, the Interprofessional Organization for Beef (PROVACUNO) has now introduced a module for slaughterhouses and cutting plants designed to measure and reduce carbon footprints. This tool is available on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1097,1096,1111],"tags":[1100,3653,1362],"class_list":["post-26461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anafric-en","category-sector-en","category-vacuno-en","tag-anafric-en","tag-huella-de-carbono","tag-provacuno-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anafric.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}