Overview of Policy Options for Industrial Systems

The main environmental problems associated with industrial livestock production systems are:

- Accumulation of animal wastes (leading to build-ups of excess nutrients and heavy metals in the soil)
- Emissions of ammonia and odours to the atmosphere;
- Emissions of greenhouse gases (methane and nitrous oxide) to the atmosphere
- Release of chemical inputs (feed additives and animal health inputs) and tannery and slaughterhouse waste into the environment Degradation and depletion of fresh water resources
- High consumption of fossil energy (CO2 emission, global warming).
- Loss of biodiversity in farm animals

In addition, the large-scale cultivation of feed for transport into industrial production systems has a number of negative impacts, such as erosion from increased land cultivation.

Many of these impacts are caused or exacerbated by inappropriate input and output pricing policies and inappropriate or non-existent regulatory policies.

In general, the same policy options are relevant to a range of environmental impacts stemming from industrial systems:

- Pricing, subsidy and taxation policies
- Regulatory policies and charges, embodying the principle of "polluter pays", and including

- Safe minimum standards

- Emission trading mechanisms
- Zoning policies

Proceed to matrix of policy options and systems

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