Environmental effects from a recycling rate increase of cardboard of aseptic packaging system for milk using life cycle approach

Mourad, Anna Lúcia; Garcia, Eloísa Elena Corrêa; Vilela, Gustavo Braz; Zuben, Fernando von

doi:10.1065/lca2007.06.340

Cited by 31 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…In assessing the environmental performance of agricultural and food systems, an LCA is a wellestablished methodology, especially due to the contribution it has provided in terms of the measurement of each elementary flow of the unit under study, the comparison of products or alternative life cycles for the same product, the identification of weak points during the product life cycle, and the optimisation of the system analysed in the case of environmental trade-offs (Arzoumanidis et al, 2013;Notarnicola et al, 2015;Roy et al, 2009). Despite still incomplete knowledge of some environmental mechanisms, the lack of up-to-date inventory data of food products and the intrinsic complexity of the systems to be analysed that requires some adaptations of the methodology from the industrial products application (Notarnicola et al, 2015), LCA has still proven to be a valuable tool to support decision-making for mitigating environmental impacts through the adoption of corrective measures along the food chain: during the production phase (Mila' i Canals and Polo, 2003;Roy et al, 2009), logistics (Roy et al, 2008), packaging (Mourad et al, 2008;Williams et al, 2008), consumption (Carlsson-Kanyama et al, 2003;Jungbluth et al, 2012), and waste and loss management (Henningsson et al, 2004;Nyland et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovation strategies in a fruit growers association impacts assessment by using combined LCA and s-LCA methodologies

Tecco¹,

Baudino²,

Girgenti³

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovation strategies in a fruit growers association impacts assessment by using combined LCA and s-LCA methodologies

Tecco¹,

Baudino²,

Girgenti³

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

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“…Packaging is one of the areas most intensively studied within the field of LCA and plays an especially important role in the case of food consumption (e.g., Hischier et al 2005;Cordella et al 2008;Mourad et al 2008). However, most of the studies to date focus on inventory with few performing full impact assessment analysis or extensive uncertainty analysis.…”

Section: Current Issues With Lca Of Packagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment of two baby food packaging alternatives: glass jars vs. plastic pots

Humbert

Rossi

Margni

et al. 2009

Int J Life Cycle Assess

182

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Background, aim, and scope This paper compares the life cycle assessment (LCA) of two packaging alternatives used for baby food produced by Nestlé: plastic pot and glass jar. The study considers the environmental impacts associated with packaging systems used to provide one baby food meal in France, Spain, and Germany in 2007. In addition, alternate logistical scenarios are considered which are independent of the two packaging options. The 200-g packaging size is selected as the basis for this study. Two other packaging sizes are assessed in the sensitivity analysis. Because results are intended to be disclosed to the public, this study underwent a critical review by an external panel of LCA experts. Materials and methods The LCA is performed in accordance to the international standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. The packaging systems include the packaging production, the product assembly, the preservation process, the distribution, and the packaging end-of-life. The production of the content (before preservation process), as well as the use phase are not taken into account as they are considered not to change when changing packaging. The inventory is based on data obtained from the baby food producer and the suppliers, data from the scientific literature, and data from the ecoinvent database. Special care is taken to implement a system expansion approach for end-of-life open and closed loop recycling and energy production (ISO 14044). A comprehensive impact assessment is performed using two life cycle impact assessment methodologies: IMPACT 2002+ and CML 2001. An extensive uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo as well as an extensive sensitivity study are performed on the inventory and the reference flows, respectively. Results When looking at the impacts due to preservation process and packaging (considering identical distribution distances), we observe a small but significant environmental benefit of the plastic pot system over the glass jar system. Depending on the country, the impact is reduced by 14% to 27% for primary energy, 28% to 31% for global warming, 31% to 34% for respiratory inorganics, and 28% to 31% for terrestrial acidification/nutrification. The environmental benefit associated with the change in packaging mainly results from (a) production of plastic pot (including its end-of-life; 43% to 51% of total benefit), (b) lighter weight of packaging positively impacting transportation (20% to 35% of total benefit), and (c) new preservation process permitted by the plastic system (23% to 34% of total benefit). The jar or pot (including cap or lid, cluster, stretch film, and label) represents approximately half of the life cycle impacts, the logistics approximately one fourth, and the rest (especially on-site energy, tray, and hood) one fourth. Discussion The sensitivity analysis shows that assumptions made in the basic scenarios are rather conservative for plastic pots and that the conclusions for the 200-g packaging size also apply to other packaging sizes. The uncertainty analysis performed ...

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“…The 1998 inventory of the production of LPB paperboard was developed within the larger framework of the project "Life Cycle Assessment of Packaging Systems for the Brazilian Market" as a building block to develop the inventory of the aseptic laminate (paperboard/aluminum/polyethylene) manufactured by Tetra Pak. Details of the methodology employed to build the 1998 LPB inventory can be accessed in Mourad et al (2008).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carton for beverage—A decade of process efficiency improvements enhancing its environmental profile

Mourad

Silva²,

Nogueira³

2011

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose Chain efficiency is currently a key issue for evaluating the sustainability of products and processes. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate how the overall efficiency process improvement carried out in the upstream manufacturing chain of LPB (Liquid Packaging Board) has affected the environmental profile over the last 10 years. Methods The method employs a life cycle methodology in a cradle-to-gate approach as the material can be used for obtaining beverage containers for different purposes. The scope of this study includes data from forest to rolls of finished cartons. Results and discussion Due to a current slightly larger boundary and more detailed data collection, the following improvements (at the minimum) over the last decade can be observed: a) energy consumption has been reduced by 38% reaching the value of 36,700 MJ/t LPB paperboard; b) water consumption has been reduced by 30% reaching a level of 45.85 m 3 /t LPB paperboard; c) wood consumption has been reduced by 40%, mainly as a result of the introduction of high yield CTMP (chemithermomechanical pulp) along with the increased overall efficiency of the production process and d) land use has been reduced by 69% due to increased forest productivity along with greater efficiency in the use of wood. Significant reductions have also been found related to environmental impacts such as global warming (49% less), photochemical ozone creation (14 times less), acidification (10 times less), eutrophication (8 times less) and human toxicity (6 times less). Conclusions The results have clearly shown how important it is to invest in new technologies and more efficient processes to achieve better sustainable levels. This historical perspective is also a benefit from Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology that allows these types of comparisons and also shows the importance of using new inventories for environmental decisions.

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Environmental effects from a recycling rate increase of cardboard of aseptic packaging system for milk using life cycle approach

Cited by 31 publications

References 11 publications

Innovation strategies in a fruit growers association impacts assessment by using combined LCA and s-LCA methodologies

Innovation strategies in a fruit growers association impacts assessment by using combined LCA and s-LCA methodologies

Life cycle assessment of two baby food packaging alternatives: glass jars vs. plastic pots

Carton for beverage—A decade of process efficiency improvements enhancing its environmental profile

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