The short version
- Feed mills must account for direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions across scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3 categories.
- Energy consumption, water usage, and waste generation must be recorded and monitored continuously to establish reduction baselines.
- Life Cycle Assessment data must be calculated per feed product, using standardized mass and economic allocation rules.
- Mills must publicly disclose annual climate metrics to support farm-level carbon footprint accounting in certified aquaculture.
Quantifying environmental impacts and reducing carbon footprints across the seafood value chain is a strategic priority under the ASC Feed Standard V1.2. Under Criterion 1.21 and Criterion 3.4, certified feed manufacturers must establish transparent systems to calculate greenhouse gas emissions, track operational energy usage, and provide verifiable product-level climate data.
These reporting requirements enable feed manufacturers to identify internal energy efficiency opportunities while providing aquaculture farms with accurate environmental declarations needed for farm-level ASC certification.
Understanding Operational Greenhouse Gas Footprinting
Criterion 1.21 mandates that feed mills track operational greenhouse gas emissions across all feed manufacturing facilities under the control of the Unit of Certification. Emissions accounting covers three distinct scopes:
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Scope 1 Direct Emissions: Direct emissions resulting from fuel combustion on site, such as natural gas, diesel, heavy fuel oil, or biomass used in boilers, driers, and company-owned transport fleets, as well as fugitive refrigerant emissions.
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Scope 2 Indirect Energy Emissions: Indirect emissions associated with grid electricity, steam, heating, or cooling purchased and consumed by the feed mill.
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Scope 3 Supply Chain Emissions: Upstream emissions embodied in raw ingredients from production, harvesting, processing, and transport to the mill gate.
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Energy Use Intensity: Mills must log monthly energy consumption by fuel type and electricity source, expressed both in absolute values and as energy consumed per metric ton of feed produced.
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Water and Waste Management: Industrial water withdrawal and discharge volumes must be monitored, alongside waste generation records categorized by disposal pathway.
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Continuous Improvement Targets: Using initial annual data as a baseline, feed mills must establish written targets and action plans to improve energy efficiency and reduce operational carbon intensity over time.
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Product Specific Calculation: Environmental impact calculations must be calculated per specific feed product line or formulation rather than averaged across the entire mill output. For example, specific allocations must be maintained separately for salmon feed, trout feed, and shrimp feed.
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Mass and Economic Allocation Rules: When ingredients or co-products are derived from multi-output processing systems (such as fishmeal and fish oil from processing trimmings, or soy meal and soy oil from soybean crushing), mills must apply standardized allocation methodologies. Calculations must utilize both relative mass allocation and economic allocation to distribute environmental impacts accurately across co-products.
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Primary and Secondary Data Sources: Feed mills must collect primary energy and yield data from their own processing operations and combine it with verified secondary database values or supplier-provided Life Cycle Assessment declarations for raw ingredients.
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Annual ASC Database Submissions: Certified feed mills must submit their annual operational energy use, total greenhouse gas footprint, and aggregate ingredient impact data to the ASC database during annual surveillance reviews.
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Client Environmental Declarations: Upon request, feed mills must supply verified greenhouse gas emission factors per metric ton of feed to aquaculture farm clients to support farm-level climate disclosures.
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Data Integrity and Verification: Auditors review fuel purchase invoices, electricity meter records, production logs, and mass allocation spreadsheets to verify the technical accuracy of reported figures.
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Automate Energy Logging: Integrate utility meters with factory management software to eliminate manual entry errors in monthly fuel and power reports.
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Collect Supplier Climate Data: Engage ingredient suppliers early during Due Diligence to obtain specific carbon footprint data rather than relying solely on global industry averages.
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Maintain Clear Allocation Models: Document all mass and economic allocation assumptions in a central spreadsheet to ensure rapid audit verification.
- ASC Feed Standard V1.2 (Criterion 1.21, Criterion 3.4, Appendix 5)
- ASC Feed Standard Interpretation Manual V1.2 (Criterion 1.21 and Criterion 3.4 Guidance)
- ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 Environmental Management and Life Cycle Assessment Standards
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