Logistics at transport to slaughter: food and environment-optimised animal transport

Transport to slaughter affects animal welfare and has a negative impact on the environment. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the possibilities to improve logistics of transport to slaughter in medium scale abattoirs, with a simultaneous decrease in environmental load and improvements in transport conditions. Data on animal welfare and transport routes and routines were collected for animal welfare analysis, transport simulations and environmental impact calculations. The analysis shows that it is common to collect single animals from the farms which contribute to multiple stops and an increase in transport time. Mixing of animals is common both in the transport and at the abattoir. The transports are in general relatively short. The time from when the animals arrive at the abattoir to the time of slaughter varies greatly; the time in lairage varies between 1 minute and 27 hours. Almost 50% of the pigs and 20% of the cattle are kept in lairage overnight. The transport simulation shows good possibilities to improve logistics by collecting the same amount of animals in shorter time with reduced distance driven; 58% reduction of number of vehicles, 23% reduction of total time and 30% reduction of distance driven. Calculations on the optimized scenario show a 20% reduction of HC-emissions and a 12% reduction of CO2. The conclusion from this pilot study is that transport optimization can result in simultaneously increased animal welfare, reduced costs and reduced environmental impact