Köck, B.-M., Spatt, P., Mihalyi-Schneider, B., & Archodoulaki, V.-M. (2023, September 28). Case study on methods and results for Life Cycle Inventory data generation on yoghurt packaging in Austria [Conference Presentation]. 18th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES2023), Dubrovnik, Croatia.
E166-01-1 - Forschungsgruppe Partikeltechnologie, Recyclingtechnologie und Technikbewertung
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Date (published):
28-Sep-2023
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Event name:
18th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES2023)
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Event date:
24-Sep-2023 - 29-Sep-2023
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Event place:
Dubrovnik, Croatia
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Keywords:
Life Cycle Assessment
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Ökobilanz; packaging
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Abstract:
Due to the improvement targets for packaging in the course of the circular economy and the Green Deal, but also in the sense of reducing food waste, the packaging currently available on the market must be evaluated in terms of its recyclability, protective effect, but also its envi-ronmental impact. In order to be able to deliver differentiated results by means of an Life Cy-cle Assessment study, our team used various data collection methods along the life cycle of plastic yoghurt packaging. Examples include FTIR spectroscopy, expert interviews with pack-aging and yoghurt producers and recycling scientists, waste investigations, literature research, company visits and market analyses in Austrian supermarkets. The results clearly show the complexity and importance of this topic.
Results were, for example, that sleeves and liners can be made of PVC and PET, which can be counterproductive for the recycling of the yoghurt pots themselves, which are made of PP and PS. Delivery routes of individual components are sometimes much further than assumed in the literature, as it were not Austrian sites of the manufacturers that delivered them, but sites from neighbouring and other European countries. High rates of misthrow and false separation were also found in the end-of-life phase, as well as inefficient transport without compression to re-cycling companies, which can also influence the LCA results significantly.
Building on these findings, recommendations for the preparation of LCAs for other packaging systems will be generated to improve the quality, transparency and the significance of LCAs in this area.
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Research Areas:
Sustainable Production and Technologies: 40% Environmental Monitoring and Climate Adaptation: 40% Climate Neutral, Renewable and Conventional Energy Supply Systems: 20%