Plastic packaging in meal kits: A life-cycle comparison of reusable and single-use packaging
Previous research on meal kits suggests they have lower environmental impacts than groceries, while notably the packaging is a significant contributor in the case of meal kits. To counter this, there has been a call for more environmental assessments of possible changes to meal kit packaging. This cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates the impacts of plastic packaging in Icelandic meal kits. It explores whether they can be mitigated through reusable packaging and increased recycling and incineration of plastic. The results suggest that reusable packaging can drastically mitigate the environmental impact, with the most critical mitigation being on climate change impact and the depletion of fossil fuels. More material recycling improves the environmental impact to a lesser degree. Incineration provides no mitigation of climate change impact while decreasing slightly fossil depletion, as plastic replaces less polluting wood incineration. The study is the first LCA on meal kit packaging to consider the whole life-cycle from cradle to grave. It represents an addition to the wider literature on the environmental implications of reusable packaging. It will hopefully add to our understanding of the contexts in which these are preferable to single-use packaging. Furthermore, it is hoped that more research on meal kits and the environment will create a knowledge base on the best practices for designing meal kit services in an eco-friendly way.
Umhverfis- og auðlindafræði, Umbúðir, Plast, Umhverfisáhrif
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