Analysis of the economic viability and environmental impacts of a conceptual process model for the recovery of lactic acid from spent media in cultivated meat production

Scaled production of cultivated meat (CM) will co-produce large volumes of spent media. Recycling of abundant metabolites such as lactic acid in spent media offers an opportunity for valorization and reduction of the carbon footprint of CM production; however, the feasibility has yet to be examined. We modeled a conceptual five-step lactic acid recovery process integrated into a previously modeled CM facility and analyzed the corresponding cost and environmental impacts of recovering an 88% lactic acid solution. At an anticipated lactic acid concentration in spent media of 3 g/L, we found the net cost of recovery would be $0.71/kg lactic acid, with a 7.5-year simple payback period. Sales of lactic acid as a co-product could offset $0.06/kg of the cost of CM production. Depending on allocation scenarios, the environmental impact of CM production with an integrated recovery process had a -1.0 to +0.2 kg CO₂ eq effect on the carbon footprint and a -22 to +3 MJ effect on cumulative energy demand per kg of CM. Recovery of lactic acid from spent media also had a 25% lower carbon footprint than conventional fermentation processes. These model results suggest that recovery of lactic acid may be an economically viable and environmentally beneficial practice if validated in future CM production facilities. This original study provides crucial guidance for lactic acid valorization and other media recycling strategies that can be broadly applied to animal cell biomanufacturing industries.