Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 141427 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of cleaner production |
| Volume | 447 |
| Early online date | 29 Feb 2024 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2024 |
Abstract
The production and pollution of plastic present a significant threat to global ecosystems, where annual plastic emissions in aquatic ecosystems are projected to triple between 2020 and 2030. Currently, plastics are widely used for food packaging but depending on the polymers, properties, the recyclability ratio of the plastics varies. Polymers, such as polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PUR), and expanded polystyrene (EPS), are widely used for packaging and transporting foods such as fresh fish, where multi-use fish tubs often consist of PE and/or PUR and single-use boxes of EPS. This study evaluated the environmental impacts of reusable tubs of different volumes and sizes made of PE/PUR vs single-use EPS boxes, transporting 1000 tons (T) of fresh fish from Iceland to Europe, per year based on life cycle assessment methodology. This is to identify the packaging solution with the lowest environmental impact. The overall results show that multi-use tubs had lower environmental impacts when transporting 1000 T of fresh fish from Iceland to Europe per year, even during first year of usage. For Global warming impacts, producing and using EPS boxes for transporting 1000 T of fresh fish was 141 T CO2-eq and ranged from 4 to 46 T CO2-eq for variating multi-use packaging solutions for one year. The weight of the raw materials (plastics) and size of the tubs were key factors affecting the environmental impacts when transporting the tubs.
Keywords
- Expanded polystyrene, Fish packaging, Life-cycle assessment, Multi-use tub, Polyethylene, Single-use box
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Energy(all)
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Environmental Science(all)
- General Environmental Science
- Business, Management and Accounting(all)
- Strategy and Management
- Engineering(all)
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Journal of cleaner production, Vol. 447, 141427, 01.04.2024.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Environmental impacts of different single-use and multi-use packaging systems for fresh fish export
AU - Hilmarsdóttir, Guorun Svana
AU - Margeirsson, Bjorn
AU - Spierling, Sebastian
AU - Ögmundarson, Olafur
N1 - Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the Icelandic Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries for funding the study (Umhverfisvænni matvælaumbúðir; UMMAT no. ANR21060110 ) and the University of Iceland Research Fund (no. 15647 ).
PY - 2024/4/1
Y1 - 2024/4/1
N2 - The production and pollution of plastic present a significant threat to global ecosystems, where annual plastic emissions in aquatic ecosystems are projected to triple between 2020 and 2030. Currently, plastics are widely used for food packaging but depending on the polymers, properties, the recyclability ratio of the plastics varies. Polymers, such as polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PUR), and expanded polystyrene (EPS), are widely used for packaging and transporting foods such as fresh fish, where multi-use fish tubs often consist of PE and/or PUR and single-use boxes of EPS. This study evaluated the environmental impacts of reusable tubs of different volumes and sizes made of PE/PUR vs single-use EPS boxes, transporting 1000 tons (T) of fresh fish from Iceland to Europe, per year based on life cycle assessment methodology. This is to identify the packaging solution with the lowest environmental impact. The overall results show that multi-use tubs had lower environmental impacts when transporting 1000 T of fresh fish from Iceland to Europe per year, even during first year of usage. For Global warming impacts, producing and using EPS boxes for transporting 1000 T of fresh fish was 141 T CO2-eq and ranged from 4 to 46 T CO2-eq for variating multi-use packaging solutions for one year. The weight of the raw materials (plastics) and size of the tubs were key factors affecting the environmental impacts when transporting the tubs.
AB - The production and pollution of plastic present a significant threat to global ecosystems, where annual plastic emissions in aquatic ecosystems are projected to triple between 2020 and 2030. Currently, plastics are widely used for food packaging but depending on the polymers, properties, the recyclability ratio of the plastics varies. Polymers, such as polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PUR), and expanded polystyrene (EPS), are widely used for packaging and transporting foods such as fresh fish, where multi-use fish tubs often consist of PE and/or PUR and single-use boxes of EPS. This study evaluated the environmental impacts of reusable tubs of different volumes and sizes made of PE/PUR vs single-use EPS boxes, transporting 1000 tons (T) of fresh fish from Iceland to Europe, per year based on life cycle assessment methodology. This is to identify the packaging solution with the lowest environmental impact. The overall results show that multi-use tubs had lower environmental impacts when transporting 1000 T of fresh fish from Iceland to Europe per year, even during first year of usage. For Global warming impacts, producing and using EPS boxes for transporting 1000 T of fresh fish was 141 T CO2-eq and ranged from 4 to 46 T CO2-eq for variating multi-use packaging solutions for one year. The weight of the raw materials (plastics) and size of the tubs were key factors affecting the environmental impacts when transporting the tubs.
KW - Expanded polystyrene
KW - Fish packaging
KW - Life-cycle assessment
KW - Multi-use tub
KW - Polyethylene
KW - Single-use box
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85186757645&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141427
DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141427
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85186757645
VL - 447
JO - Journal of cleaner production
JF - Journal of cleaner production
SN - 0959-6526
M1 - 141427
ER -