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 % of total waste 192 kg packaging waste per inhabitant per year

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

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

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

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 p?Sub= ings.htm

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

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

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

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)

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 Unit: mPEM WDK2000. Resource consumption: the share of known reserves per person in the world in Unit: mPR W90.

Global warming Primary materials

Acidification Primary materials

Resources: Crude oil Primary materials

Waste Primary materials

Primary materials <> recycling Global warming: LDPE and Aluminium

Presentation of the environmental impact from packaging Overall 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.

Environmental index

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.

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

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

Packaging types Packaging systemBeerSoft drinks Refillable glass bottle33 cl green glass25 cl clear glass Single-use glass bottle33 cl green glass33 cl clear glass Aluminium cans33 cl and 50 cl33 cl and 50 cl Steel cans33 cl and 50 cl33 cl and 50 cl Refillable PET bottle50 cl and 150 cl Single-use PET bottle50 cl and 150 cl

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

33 cl packages for beer

50 cl packages for soft drinks

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