Environmental impacts of different single-use and multi-use packaging systems for fresh fish export

verfasst von

Guorun Svana Hilmarsdóttir, Bjorn Margeirsson, Sebastian Spierling, Olafur Ögmundarson

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.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Kunststoff- und Kreislauftechnik

Externe Organisation(en)

University of Iceland
Matís Ltd

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Journal of cleaner production

Band

447

Anzahl der Seiten

9

ISSN

0959-6526

Publikationsdatum

01.04.2024

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Erneuerbare Energien, Nachhaltigkeit und Umwelt, Umweltwissenschaften (insg.), Strategie und Management, Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen und Fertigungstechnik

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 7 – Erschwingliche und saubere Energie, SDG 12 – Verantwortungsvoller Konsum und Produktion

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141427 (Zugang: Offen)