Südpack has implemented its EcoTrace LCA service to assess the environmental impact of its products across the entire value chain. This innovative tool addresses the pressing challenges in food and beverage packaging.
With numerous scenarios and projections, EcoTrace enables comparisons of various packaging concepts. This capability allows for objective decision-making regarding optimal packaging solutions, facilitating the achievement of ambitious environmental and sustainability objectives. Furthermore, it aids in enhancing and streamlining product reporting grounded in reliable LCA data.
According to a study conducted by WWF Germany, the volume of plastic waste could potentially decrease by approximately 8% through the elimination of unnecessary packaging and the introduction of improved designs. Up to 365 kilotonnes, or about 9%, of all single-use plastics could be replaced with materials that have a lower ecological footprint. Additionally, moving away from multipolymer materials could increase closed-loop mechanical recycling yields by 185 kilotonnes, translating to a 30% boost.
“By incorporating chemical recycling as a viable recovery option, the potential environmental benefits increase manifold as carbon is retained in the material loop indefinitely,” explains Carolin Grimbacher, managing partner of Südpack.
EcoTrace allows Südpack to analyze the entire life cycle of its products, as well as those of customers, in terms of their environmental impact. These assessments are based on a cradle-to-grave methodology, which not only considers greenhouse gases (CO2e) but also accounts for factors such as fossil resource consumption, eco- and human toxicity, diverse energy sources, and various end-of-life options, all within defined system limits. This approach is crucial as approximately 10% of the environmental impact of Südpack’s flexible films occurs at the end of their life cycle, assuming an average recycling rate of 48% and a thermal recovery rate of 52%.
In partnership with Sphera, Südpack recently conducted an LCA study in compliance with ISO 14040/44 for its Flow Pack PurePP solution. This study assessed the potential environmental impact of innovative high-performance films from the company’s Pure-Line range, primarily used in the food and beverage sector. These flexible film laminates are composed of PP, and due to their mono-material structure, boast a recyclability rate of 92% according to the cyclos-HTP institute.
The end-of-life analysis utilized a current German recycling mix as a baseline scenario, which was compared against results from studies involving 100% mechanical recycling, 100% chemical recycling, and 100% thermal recovery. Additionally, the research examined the effect of different energy sources used during production and the integration of recycled content into the granules.
In the baseline scenario, 1m² of Flow Pack PurePP generates 246g CO₂e/m² over its entire life cycle. Notably, incinerating the Flow Pack at the end of its life leads to the highest emissions at 293g CO₂e/m², whereas mechanical recycling reduces emissions by nearly 50g CO₂e/m². Thus, leveraging mechanical or chemical recycling as alternatives to thermal recovery can significantly improve the ecological footprint. Even with chemical recycling, there remains a substantial difference of around 50g CO₂e/m² compared to thermal recovery. When renewable electricity is utilized, CO2e emissions decrease further—by more than 5%. Furthermore, mechanical recyclate consistently outperforms chemically recycled input materials due to higher energy requirements during their production.
The findings underscore that considerable environmental impacts arise throughout the life cycle of Flow Pack PurePP, emphasizing the necessity for fact-based assessments to facilitate informed decisions on sustainability criteria, as stated by Südpack.
Another advantage of EcoTrace is that the results from these studies can lay the groundwork for fact-based product development and optimization based on diverse sustainability criteria. They can also be easily shared with customers when needed. EcoTrace simplifies and accelerates the integration of these datasets into the customer’s “LCA for Experts” software.
