Life cycle assessment of rice processing in Sri Lanka: modern and conventional processing

Abstract

Rice processing is the major food processing industry in Sri Lanka. Although the process creates immense economic, social and environmental impacts, the studies conducted to analyze those impacts are scarce in the country. Though there are various rice production processes in the world, basically there are two rice production processes as raw rice and parboiled rice in Sri Lanka. Out of these, parboiled rice processing is the most prominent one. But, it creates considerable burden on the environment. Parboiling process can be categorized into two, as conventional and modern based on the processing methods practice in the mills. This paper compares the environmental impact of that conventional and modern rice processing by using life cycle analysis as the assessment tool. The results reveal that the modern rice processing creates elevated environmental impact in terms of all considered impact categories. In addition, soaking, drying and de-husking are identified as the most causative unit operations to the total environmental impact.