Page 165 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Life Cycle Assessment: Principles, Practice and Prospects
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Table 11.2 Life cycle environmental impact and packaging-specific indicators reported in the
Packaging Impact Quick Evaluation Tool (PIQET)
Packaging specific indicators
s Product/packaging ratio s kg and % of packaging per packaging level
s Product % remaining in packaging (subretail, retail, merchandising, traded and
s Packaging to landfill as a % and kg pallet)
s Packaging to recycle as a % and kg s Recycled content of each individual
s Recycled content % of packaging per pallet packaging component
load s Packaging material summary (no. of each
s Packaging as a % of packaged product individual packaging material in packaging
weight system format)
s Mass of packaging recyclable
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) environmental indicators
s Global warming (kg CO eq.) s Eutrophication (kg PO 3– eq.)
2 4
s Cumulative energy demand (MJ LHV) s Land use (hectare)
s Minerals and fuel (MJ surplus) s Water use (kL H O)
2
s Photochemical oxidation (kg C H eq.) s Solid waste (kilogram)
2 4
kg C H eq., kilograms of ethane equivalents; kg CO eq., kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent; kL H O, kilolitres of
2 2 2 2
water; kg PO 3– eq., kilograms of phosphate equivalent; MJ LHV, megajoules of lower heating value; MJ surplus,
4
megajoules of surplus energy.
The key results calculated by PIQET include a range of life-cycle environmental impact
indicators and further packaging-specific indicators (Table 11.2). LCA impact categories
provide a credible and rigorous environmental assessment, while other indicators allow the
tool to report against existing requirements for the NPC and ECoPP.
For each packaging system format entered, the outputs are reported in both tabular and
graphical formats. Figure 11.5 shows, as an example, the carbon dioxide emissions for a par-
ticular packaging format. For this case, the subretail packaging contributes the most to global
warming, while the retail cluster and traded-unit packaging make relatively minor contribu-
tions. Moreover, for the subretail packaging, material production is the main contributor to

kg CO 2 eq per kg of product on pallet Converting process Transport to retail Filling

Transport to filler
Transport to filler
Converting process

Material
Waste Material Waste
Figure 11.5 Global warming results graph for the different packaging component levels and life
cycle stages. (All positive results are impacts and all negative results are benefits. Only the ‘total’
includes transport to retail and filling.)

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