Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Packaging Solutions for Fixing Systems: Analysing Environmental Impacts

The main function of packaging is the protection of the product. In addition to this, the practicality and presentation of the packaging to the consumer is an important point in the product design stage which guided companies to find different packaging solutions including various primary materials used for packaging over the years. With growing consumer awareness and regulations entering into force, the environmental performance of packaging has become a serious aspect also at the decision-making level at companies. This study aims to analyse the environmental impacts of two different types of packaging for fixing systems and to use the results to direct the market focus for green solutions. A comparative life cycle assessment was conducted to analyse the environmental performance of the two packaging solutions, paper and plastic, by adapting a life cycle approach that takes into account the manufacturing and transportation of the packaging and its components, assembly, distribution and end-of-life. The assessment was done in four phases as goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation, using the SimaPro software. Environmental impacts of the life cycle of two packagings were analysed under different impact categories. The results of the impact assessment showed that the environmental impacts of the plastic packaging are higher than that of the paper packaging. The impacts were significant for human toxicity, fossil resource scarcity and global warming categories.