Scottish Government

Footprinting Scottish dairy products

The Scottish Government asked Best Foot Forward to measure the greenhouse gas emissions and resource use in Scotland’s dairy supply chain. Six dairy products were studied in terms of their impact from cradle-to-grave: cheese, cream, butter, milk, yoghurt and ice cream. The study found that these six products account for 3% of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Industry stakeholders were involved in  the study and made recommendations on the biggest opportunities for reducing this impact. These included both changes that can be made on the farm, and those that must be made beyond the farm, once products are being processed or sold.

The work will be a major part of the new Dairy Route Map for Scotland (soon to be published). Best Foot Forward has also developed the Dairyfootprint Dashboard, an easy-to-use calculator which enables farmers and processors of all sizes to quickly measure the carbon footprint of their products, both on the farm and in the supply chain.

The study was peer reviewed by The Carbon Trust.

Have a look at our infographic on flickr showing the carbon footprint of the Scottish dairy industry.