Improving Environmental Sustainability of Food-Contact Polypropylene Packaging Production

Alberto Pietro Damiano Baltrocchi, Francesco Romagnoli, Marco Carnevale Miino () and Vincenzo Torretta
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Alberto Pietro Damiano Baltrocchi: Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Via O. Rossi 9, I-21100 Varese, Italy
Francesco Romagnoli: Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, Āzenes iela 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia
Marco Carnevale Miino: Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Via O. Rossi 9, I-21100 Varese, Italy
Vincenzo Torretta: Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Via O. Rossi 9, I-21100 Varese, Italy

Clean Technol., 2025, vol. 7, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Most types of packaging that are in contact with food are made of polypropylene (PP), and the environmental impacts of their production and use are still high. Currently, incorporating recycled PP in the food industry is not a viable solution for reducing environmental impacts due to its complexity and high costs. For this reason, understanding how to reduce the environmental impacts derived from the production process of plastic food packaging is essential. This study aims to analyze the environmental performance of the production of single-use PP food-contact packaging using the Life Cycle Assessment approach in order to estimate the effectiveness of proposed solutions to mitigate its impacts. Furthermore, the economic savings from the avoided CO 2 emissions were estimated. To achieve these goals, three diverse scenarios with different energy source mixes were studied. The analysis was carried out using SimaPro v9.5 software, the Ecoinvent v3.8 database, and a ReCiPe 2016 impact assessment. The findings show that upstream processes are the main contributors to the environmental profile, with 67% of the total impact, followed by core processes, with 32% of the total impacts. An increase in the use of renewable energy can lead to environmental benefits, with an impact reduction ranging from 13% to 61% depending on the energy source mix. Furthermore, up to EUR 12,458 per 100 tons of units produced was saved due to the lack of CO 2 emissions. The results of this research will be useful to encourage the use of renewable energy in the processes of PP packaging production as an alternative when polymer replacement is difficult.

Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment; polypropylene; climate change; environmental impacts; renewable energy; circular economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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