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Anibal Bher, Rafael Auras
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is valuable for quantifying the overall environmental footprint and trade-offs of services, packaging, and products. Packaging plays a critical role in containing, safeguarding, and delivering goods globally. LCA studies have extensively examined packaging attributes like functionality, structure (rigid or flexible), and materials to make recommendations. However, conflicting advice has emerged from different LCA studies on similar packaging systems, raising questions about whether material neutrality and a holistic environmental perspective are fundamental principles used for selecting packaging with the optimal environmental footprint. A meta-analysis of LCA studies on packaging systems was conducted to address this issue. We assessed adherence to ISO 14040/44:2006 standards based on ISO/TS 14071 guideline review requirements, identified the primary packaging formats studied, evaluated differences in environmental footprint among packaging alternatives, and examined consistencies and discrepancies among the studies. Most studies claimed adherence to ISO standards, though checks were inconsistent. The leading packaging formats analyzed included bottles, aseptic cartons, bags, and cans, with various reported greenhouse gas emissions for a standard functional unit. Discrepancies were found in primary and secondary data used in LCA studies, revealing research gaps. Recommendations are offered to enhance LCA studies of product and packaging systems, making them more robust instruments for informing environmentally conscious policy decisions and promoting sustainable development. Based on the study's findings, it is recommended that the system boundaries, assumptions, inventory, databases, and calculation procedures be clearly defined. When including end-of-life, a detailed description of the modeling should be specified, especially the methodology used when considering recycling content and rate. For comparative studies, results should be reported as a breakdown of all the phases. Find the study Life cycle assessment of packaging systems: A meta-analysis to evaluate the root of consistencies and discrepancies.
