Technical emptiability of dairy product packaging and its environmental implications in Austria.
Circular economy
Emptiability
Emptying
Food loss
Food residues
Food waste
Milk
Product environmental footprint
Streamlined LCA
Sustainability
Journal
PeerJ
ISSN: 2167-8359
Titre abrégé: PeerJ
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101603425
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
2019
2019
Historique:
received:
10
05
2019
accepted:
29
07
2019
entrez:
1
10
2019
pubmed:
1
10
2019
medline:
1
10
2019
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Food waste is a major ecological concern around the globe. While the main function of packaging is to contain and protect food, it may also lead to food waste if residues remain in a package after emptying. Such residues could be attributed to wasteful behavior of consumers, but also to properties of packaging (e.g., geometry, surface tension) and food (e.g., surface tension, viscosity). In this study, the technical emptiability (ability of packaging to be emptied entirely) of 36 dairy products is analyzed. Firstly, the amount of food residues in packaging after emptying at room and refrigerator temperature was weighed and set in relation to the original filling quantity. Secondly, streamlined life cycle assessments (LCAs) based on the Product Environmental Footprint guidance with a functional unit of "one kg of consumed dairy product at room or refrigerator temperature in the home of the consumer" are conducted. Finally, technical emptiability was included in the streamlined LCA and attributed to the primary packaging in order to evaluate its environmental impact. Technical emptiability for both temperatures combined was found to be between 0.25% (±0.11) and 5.79% (±0.43) for the analyzed dairy products. While there were differences in emptiability results of the same product and different temperatures, no significant trend ( The streamlined LCA results show that food residues can contribute substantially to the footprint of packaging and can have similar or even higher environmental impacts than packaging production and waste management. Yet, emptiability is remarkably under-researched to this day. Future studies should further develop the methods presented in this paper, while LCA analysts should include technical emptiability when assessing the sustainability of packaging, particularly for those containing resource-intensive goods.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Food waste is a major ecological concern around the globe. While the main function of packaging is to contain and protect food, it may also lead to food waste if residues remain in a package after emptying. Such residues could be attributed to wasteful behavior of consumers, but also to properties of packaging (e.g., geometry, surface tension) and food (e.g., surface tension, viscosity).
METHODS
METHODS
In this study, the technical emptiability (ability of packaging to be emptied entirely) of 36 dairy products is analyzed. Firstly, the amount of food residues in packaging after emptying at room and refrigerator temperature was weighed and set in relation to the original filling quantity. Secondly, streamlined life cycle assessments (LCAs) based on the Product Environmental Footprint guidance with a functional unit of "one kg of consumed dairy product at room or refrigerator temperature in the home of the consumer" are conducted. Finally, technical emptiability was included in the streamlined LCA and attributed to the primary packaging in order to evaluate its environmental impact.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Technical emptiability for both temperatures combined was found to be between 0.25% (±0.11) and 5.79% (±0.43) for the analyzed dairy products. While there were differences in emptiability results of the same product and different temperatures, no significant trend (
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS
The streamlined LCA results show that food residues can contribute substantially to the footprint of packaging and can have similar or even higher environmental impacts than packaging production and waste management. Yet, emptiability is remarkably under-researched to this day. Future studies should further develop the methods presented in this paper, while LCA analysts should include technical emptiability when assessing the sustainability of packaging, particularly for those containing resource-intensive goods.
Identifiants
pubmed: 31565562
doi: 10.7717/peerj.7578
pii: 7578
pmc: PMC6743449
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
e7578Informations de copyright
© 2019 Wohner et al.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Références
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