A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Packaging for the Distribution of Italian Fruit and Vegetables

Levi, Marinella; Cortesi, Sara; Vezzoli, Carlo; Salvia, Giuseppe

doi:10.1002/pts.946

Cited by 79 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…He finds that reusable bottles require only one third of the energy of their throwaway counterparts. Levi and colleagues () consider varying transport distances in their LCA of disposable and reusable grocery packaging, finding that a “crossover distance” exists: When the distance between the end users and the distribution center is shorter than this, the benefits of avoiding new production make reuse beneficial. When the distance is longer, then the emissions from inefficiently transporting reusable packaging dominate.…”

Section: Returning a Product At End Of Life To A Usable State Or Locamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Environmental Impacts of Reuse: A Review

Cooper

Gutowski

2015

J of Industrial Ecology

219

164

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryThe fear that human consumption is causing climate change, biodiversity loss, and mineral scarcity has recently prompted interest in reuse because of the intuitive belief that it reduces new production and waste. The environmental impacts of reuse have, however, received little attention-the benefits typically assumed rather than understood-and consequently the overall effects remain unclear. In this article, we structure the current work on the topic, reviewing the potential benefits and pitfalls described in the literature and providing a framework for future research.Many products' use-phase energy requirements are decreasing. The relative importance of the embodied impacts from initial production is therefore growing and the prominence of reuse as an abatement strategy is likely to increase in the future. Many examples are found in the literature of beneficial reuse of standardized, unpowered products and components, and repairing an item is always found to be less energy intensive than new production.

show abstract

Section: Returning a Product At End Of Life To A Usable State Or Locamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Environmental Impacts of Reuse: A Review

Cooper

Gutowski

2015

J of Industrial Ecology

219

164

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Under this arrangement, the disposable packaging requirement was completely eliminated and replaced with the returnable packaging. In the figure, TH According to [24][25][26][27][28][29][30], the total effective packaging cost under a reverse logistics scheme entails five cost components: the disposable packaging cost, importer inland cost, ocean freight cost, exporter inland cost, and packaging cleaning and repairing cost. Nevertheless, the authors failed to discuss the calculation methods associated with these cost components.…”

Section: Disposable Packagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to [26], the returnable packaging considerably lowered the costs associated with the routine packaging purchase and disposal, but the scheme required a large initial investment. [24,[27][28][29][30] documented that the inland transportation and ocean freight costs were the main considerations in the deployment of returnable packaging; but failed to discuss the mathematic model used in the cost calculation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Operational, Economic and Environmental Benefits of Returnable Packaging Under Various Reverse Logistics Arrangements

Katephap¹,

Limnararat²

2017

IJIES

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This research investigates the operational, economic and environmental advantages of the returnable packaging under various reverse logistics arrangements, in relation to the disposable packaging. The business under study is a Thai manufacturer and exporter of automotive parts with the trading partners in the Philippines and Vietnam. In the study, a switch was made from the currently disposable packaging to the standardized returnable packaging under three reverse logistics arrangements: the single-, round-and multi-trip arrangements. Due to the large initial investment associated with the returnable packaging, a mathematical model was proposed to calculate the total effective packaging cost. The research findings revealed that the multi-trip reverse logistics arrangement was most operationally and environmentally viable, with the largest total packaging cost reduction and packaging waste reduction of 61% and 68%, relative to the disposable packaging. Meanwhile, the single-trip reverse logistics arrangement was most favorable economically due to its shortest payback period of 0.33 year. Moreover, the life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to the disposable and returnable packaging to evaluate the environmental impacts throughout their lifetime. The LCA results validate the more environmentally-friendly nature of the returnable packaging.

show abstract

“…Another frequently analysed topic in packaging LCAs is the comparison of one-way versus returnable packaging systems (e.g. Koskela et al 2014;Levi et al 2011). A common recommendation provided by packaging LCAs that focus on packaging material and its end-of-life is to minimise the amount of packaging material (Levi et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Koskela et al 2014;Levi et al 2011). A common recommendation provided by packaging LCAs that focus on packaging material and its end-of-life is to minimise the amount of packaging material (Levi et al 2011). Over the last 10 years, several authors (Pagani et al 2015;Silvenius et al 2014) have criticised LCAs on food packaging that exclude the packed product.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental impact of packaging in food supply chains—does life cycle assessment of food provide the full picture?

Molina-Besch

Wikström

Williams

2018

Int J Life Cycle Assess

112

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Due to the urgency and the magnitude of the environmental problems caused by food supply chains, it is important that the recommendations for packaging improvements given in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of food rest on a balanced consideration of all relevant environmental impacts of packaging. The purpose of this article is to analyse the extent to which food LCAs include the indirect environmental impact of packaging in parallel to its direct impact. While the direct environmental impact of food packaging is the impact caused by packaging materials' production and end-of-life, its indirect environmental impact is caused by its influence on the food product's life cycle, e.g. by its influence on food waste and on logistical efficiency. Methods The article presents a review of 32 food LCAs published in peer-reviewed scientific journals over the last decade. The steps of the food product's life cycle that contribute to the direct and indirect environmental impacts of packaging provide the overall structure of the analytical framework used for the review. Three aspects in the selected food LCAs were analysed: (1) the defined scope of the LCAs, (2) the sensitivity and/or scenario analyses and (3) the conclusions and recommendations. Results and discussion While in packaging LCA literature, there is a trend towards a more systematic consideration of the indirect environmental impact of packaging, it is unclear how food LCAs handle this aspect. The results of the review show that the choices regarding scope and sensitivities/scenarios made in food LCAs and their conclusions about packaging focus on the direct environmental impact of packaging. While it is clear that not all food LCAs need to analyse packaging in detail, this article identifies opportunities to increase the validity of packaging-related conclusions in food LCAs and provides specific recommendations for packaging-related food LCA methodology. Conclusions Overall, we conclude that the indirect environmental impact of packaging is insufficiently considered in current food LCA practice. Based on these results, this article calls for a more systematic consideration of the indirect environmental impact of packaging in future food LCAs. In addition, it identifies a need for more packaging research that can provide the empirical data that many food LCA practitioners currently lack. In particular, LCA practitioners would benefit if there were more knowledge and data available about the influence of certain packaging characteristics (e.g. shape, weight and type of material) on consumer behaviour.

show abstract

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Packaging for the Distribution of Italian Fruit and Vegetables

Cited by 79 publications

References 9 publications

The Environmental Impacts of Reuse: A Review

The Environmental Impacts of Reuse: A Review

The Operational, Economic and Environmental Benefits of Returnable Packaging Under Various Reverse Logistics Arrangements

The environmental impact of packaging in food supply chains—does life cycle assessment of food provide the full picture?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About