Soy drink: carbon footprint per kg (about one litre)
Live factor value
0.427 kgCO2e per kg (about one litre)
Source: Agribalyse (ADEME/INRAE, France), 3.1 (revision 1). Factor set agribalyse-3.1-r1.
Soy drink sits at the low end of Agribalyse's beverages — the live figure is below. Soybeans fix their own nitrogen, so the crop needs very little synthetic fertiliser, and the drink is made by soaking, grinding and straining rather than by anything energy-intensive.
It is also the plant drink that comes closest to milk nutritionally, with protein per litre in the same range — which matters if you are comparing on more than carbon. As with oat, the useful comparison is against the milk figure in this same study rather than against a number from anywhere else.
Worked example
A one-litre carton of soy drink: 1 × 0.427 = 0.4 kgCO2e.
Measure your own with the free food calculator.
Frequently asked questions
- Does soy drink drive deforestation?
- The great majority of soy grown worldwide becomes livestock feed. Food-grade soy for drinks is a small and largely separate trade.
- Which plant drink is lowest-carbon?
- Agribalyse's plain oat, soy and rice-based drinks all sit at the low end and close together — the differences between them are small next to the gap to dairy milk in the same database.