A new product life cycle analysis report highlights the excellent environmental performance of cartonboard packaging against fossil alternatives.
The analysis report, Cartonboard Life Cycle; Comparing the carbon footprint of carton packaging against alternative solutions, published in June 2021, explores the precise details of cartonboard's environmental performance throughout its product life cycle - as a packaging material for frozen foods, ready meals, fast foods and portable electronics - compared to other commonly used packaging materials, such as multilaminate film pouches, PP seal trays, PET trays and PVC face packs.
The study, conducted by RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) - the bioeconomy division for Pro Carton, the European Cartonboard and Folding Carton Industry Association - and peer-reviewed by Intertek, provides insight into the relative carbon footprint of packaging in different consumer sectors, as well as detailed explanations of the factors that lead to these comparative results.
RISE's full product life cycle comparison ensures that the entire product life cycle of packaging is truly considered - from manufacturing (or cultivation in the case of wood used in carton manufacturing) to processing and disposal. The study report documents both fossil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and biogenic GHG emissions and their removals.
Fossil GHG emissions arise from non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels, while biogenic emissions arise from the combustion of biofuels and the degradation of biological products. Biogenic degradation refers to CO2 uptake from the atmosphere through photosynthesis during biomass growth.
Tony Hitchin, General Manager at Pro Carton, commented, "While the unique aspects of the product lifecycle of paper fibre-based packaging are taken into account when calculating the total carbon footprint, we were also interested to see what the results were when only fossil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were taken into account, and carton packaging solutions delivered a positive result."
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