Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Single-Use Packaging

Abstract

Abstract In recent years, there has been an increase in the consumption of disposable packaging, which has led to overloading landfills. These problems have become widely noticeable and dominant in a wide range of packaging issues in terms of environmental protection. The development of knowledge in the field of environmental protection, which has taken place in recent years, has shown that the impact of packaging should be considered throughout its life cycle, taking into account many factors that constitute environmental burdens and threats. Many companies operating in the world markets, using the standardized Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, conduct tests in terms of technical and material solutions with the lowest environmental impact. Therefore, this publication was to conduct environmental analysis of the life cycle of disposable food packaging based on the method of LCA. The subject of the research were bottles, caps and labels made mainly of polymeric materials: polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene and LDPE. Eco-indicator 99 was used as the calculation procedure. The impact of the analysis objects on human health, ecosystem quality and resources was assessed. Among the examined objects, the highest level of negative influence on the environment was characteristic for the life cycle of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle. The use of recycling processes reduce the environmental impact by about 25%.