April 28-30, 2025

All Speakers

Dog and cat food research experts who will present at Petfood Forum & Petfood Essentials

Marty Heller
Senior Consultant
Blonk Sustainability
Marty Heller, Ph.D., has worked as a senior consultant at Blonk Sustainability, a division of Mérieux NutriSciences, since 2021, where he has led LCA projects on crop cultivation, animal production, feed additives, novel protein production and consumer packaged foods. Prior to joining Blonk, he spent 15 years as a research specialist with the Center for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan, also conducting LCA research primarily on agriculture and food systems, including investigations into the environmental impact of U.S. diets. Heller holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a bachelor of science in chemical engineering from Michigan State University.
Date/TimeTitle
Mon Apr 28
9:15 AM - 10:30 AM
Petfood Essentials: Demystifying life cycle assessment for the pet food industry
KCCC Room 2215

Marty Heller, Ph.D., senior consultant, Mérieux NutriSciences/Blonk Sustainability, explains what a life cycle assessment (LCA) is, how to use it and how it can support your sustainability goals. The LCA has become the standard method for evaluating the environmental impact of a product or service, and is behind the environmental footprinting data increasingly used to characterize supply chains, calculate Scope 3 corporate emissions and even drive choices between competing ingredients. To properly utilize such footprint data or develop it for your company’s products, you need at least a cursory understanding of the LCA method, how it is typically performed, its (insatiable) data needs and its applications — as well as its limitations. Heller offers a primer on LCA with specific application to the pet food industry, providing a foundation on why it’s used, what’s involved in performing an LCA and which environmental impact indicators are relevant and meaningful within the agriculture, feed and food sectors. He also covers the choices made in every LCA, including functional unit, system boundaries, allocation method and data sources, considering why agreed-upon standards for LCA are critical for establishing a level playing field and trustworthy environmental footprinting information.

The session introduces a group exercise that participants will work on throughout the day, offering hands-on experience with a pet food LCA aimed at developing a more intuitive understanding of the important levers available for managing the environmental footprint of pet food products.