Design of a sustainable packaging in the food sector by applying LCA

The choice of a sustainable packaging alternative is a key issue for the improvement of the environmental performances of a product, both from a production perspective and end-of-life management. The present study is focused on the life cycle assessment (LCA) of two packaging alternatives of a poultry product, in particular a polystyrene-based tray and an aluminum bowl (70 wt% primary and 30 wt% secondary aluminum) were considered. The LCA was performed according to ISO 14040-44 and following a "from-cradle-to-grave" perspective. The following stages were considered: production, use phase (i.e., cooking), and end-of-life. Different end-of-life scenarios were hypothesized. Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Cumulative Energy Demand, and ILCD midpoint method were used in the impact assessment (LCIA). The aluminum bowl was carefully designed in order to allow its use during the cooking stage of the poultry product in the oven and to reduce the cooking time (40 min instead of 50 min needed when using a conventional bowl) at 200 °C: cooking time reduction allows electric energy savings equal to 0.21 kWh (1.38 kWh instead of 1.59 kWh). Electric energy savings become of primary importance to reduce overall emissions, in particular CO2 eq emissions, especially in those countries such as Italy and Germany where there is a predominance of fossil fuels in the electric energy country mix. Over the entire life cycle of the two alternatives considered (taking into account production, transport, cooking, and end-of-life), cooking stage has the most impact; so, the specific design of the packaging bowl/tray can allow significant lowering of the overall CO2 eq emissions. In addition, when designing an aluminum-based packaging, the content of the secondary material can be significantly increased in order to reach higher sustainability during the production stage.