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The Impacts of Packaging on the Environment

The Impacts of Packaging on the Environment. Birgitte Kjær, Ph.D. Household Waste Division. Packaging Waste in relation to the Total Waste Production. Packaging waste 1 mill. tons in 1999 Total waste 12.2 mill. tons in 1999 8% of total waste 192 kg packaging waste per inhabitant per year.

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The Impacts of Packaging on the Environment

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  1. The Impacts of Packaging on the Environment Birgitte Kjær, Ph.D. Household Waste Division

  2. Packaging Waste in relation to the Total Waste Production • Packaging waste 1 mill. tons in 1999 • Total waste 12.2 mill. tons in 1999 • 8% of total waste • 192 kg packaging waste per inhabitant per year

  3. High attention to packaging • Visible • All consumers take care of packaging waste each day • 30% of domestic waste by weight • > 50% of domestic waste by volume

  4. The Impacts of Packaging on the Environment • Packaging is short-lived • Consumes global resources • Especially: Raw material and energy

  5. Environmental objective • Aim: Consumption of packaging causes the least possible burden to environment. • Methods: • Reduce the weight of packaging • Substitution to materials with less environmental impact. • Promote reuse and refill systems

  6. Life-cycle screening of 11 packaging materials • Life-cycle screening: only the most important environmental impacts and phases in the packaging life cycle (from cradle to grave) are included • Environmental impact of packaging materials http://www.mst.dk/homepage/default.asp?Sub=http://www.mst.dk/waste/Packagings.htm

  7. Life-cycle screening of 11 packaging materials • Not possible to add all impacts with respect to the environment, resources and waste, into a single figure.Thus, it is necessary to make some political choices • Operational unit: 1 kg of packaging

  8. The life-cycle of packaging Included in the life-cycle screening: • Extraction of raw material • Production of material • Production of packaging • Distribution - (calculated later) • Waste disposal Not included in the life-cycle screening: • Use of the packaging

  9. Paper/cardboard Glass Tinplate/steel Aluminium Plastic: HDPE LDPE PP PET PVC EPS PS Materials in the survey

  10. Assumptions • Sales packaging • Waste disposal as the present situation in Denmark today • Glass packaging 70 % recycling (separate collection) • Steel packaging 64% recycling (separated from incineration slag) • Paper, plastic,aluminium incineration with energy recovery (no separate collection)

  11. How are the results expressed? • Basis: “a politically determined environmental space”. • Environmental effects and waste: possible emission per person if the political objectives are to be met in the year 2000. Unit: mPEMWDK2000. • Resource consumption: the share of known reserves per person in the world in 1990. Unit: mPRW90.

  12. Global warmingPrimary materials

  13. AcidificationPrimary materials

  14. Resources: Crude oilPrimary materials

  15. WastePrimary materials

  16. Primary materials <> recyclingGlobal warming:LDPE and Aluminium

  17. Presentation of the environmental impact from packagingOverall assessment Some general outlines per kg material: • Cardboard and glass: lowest environmental impact • Some plastic materials (LDPE, HDPE, PP, PET, PS) prove to have higher environmental impacts than cardboard and glass. PS and PET have the highest impact in this group. • Steel: some indicators ranking similar to plastics but with major negative impact on the environment due to waste. • Major environmental impacts originate from PVC, EPS and aluminium.

  18. Environmental index

  19. No-one has opposed the overall ranking of the materials • After the consultation process none of the parties had opposed to the overall assessment - the ranking of materials - of the LCA study. • LCA experts have supported the ranking of the packaging materials - because it is in line with other studies.

  20. Objection: “All results are given per kg packaging” • One objective of the tax is to reduce the total amount of packaging waste. • In a LCA it is the use value of one product that is being compared to the use value of another product. • The use value of packaging is not one kg material - but the 34 grams of plastic used to produce a bottle. This plastic bottle can then be compared to another bottle of glass of 290 grams

  21. Life cycle assessment of packaging systems Life cycle assessment of packaging systems for beer and soft drinks • Published May 1998 • Main report and 7 technical reports

  22. Packaging types Packaging system Beer Soft drinks Refillable glass bottle 33 cl green glass 25 cl clear glass Single-use glass bottle 33 cl green glass 33 cl clear glass Aluminium cans 33 cl and 50 cl 33 cl and 50 cl Steel cans 33 cl and 50 cl 33 cl and 50 cl Refillable PET bottle 50 cl and 150 cl Single-use PET bottle 50 cl and 150 cl

  23. Main environmental impacts • final energy consumption • consumption of natural resources • global warming • photochemical ozone formation • acidification • nutrient enrichment • waste

  24. 33 cl packages for beer

  25. 50 cl packages for soft drinks

  26. Conclusion Environmental effects from packaging • Mainly use of raw material and energy resources Impact on environment can be assessed • Complex • Used in making political decisions

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