Especially for animal feed
From the report Stepping Up: The continuing impact of EU consumption on nature can be concluded that soy for animal feed, palm oil and meat has the greatest impact on jungles and other nature in tropical areas. More than eighty percent of the soy shipped to Europe is destined for animal feed.
According to Sandra Mulder, raw materials expert at WWF, this soy also explains the large ecological footprint of the Netherlands in deforestation. The Netherlands is an important exporter of meat. Animal feed is needed for Dutch livestock, for which soy is imported.
To grow soy, jungles and other nature in tropical areas are cut down. For example, according to WWF, the European Union is partly responsible for the destruction of 5 million hectares of tropical forest per year due to the import of raw materials.
The Dutch Animal Feed Industry Association, Nevedi, says that a lot of soybean meal is transported through Dutch ports to other European countries and is therefore incorrectly attributed to the Netherlands. “The use of soybean meal for Dutch animal feed is approximately 0.005 percent of world production, at almost 2 million tons,” says director Henk Flipsen.
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