Evaluating the Energy Resources and Environmental Impacts for Blueberry Packaging Materials with a Focus on End-of-Life Scenarios

Viktoria Mannheim (), Ulvi Moor, Liina Laumets and Klára Tóthné Szita
Additional contact information
Viktoria Mannheim: Department of Engineering Management and Enterprise, Faculty of Engineering, University of Debrecen, Ótemető str. 2-4, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Ulvi Moor: Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 51014 Tartu, Estonia
Liina Laumets: Educational Technology Centre, Tallinn University of Technology, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia
Klára Tóthné Szita: Institute of World and Regional Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 13, 1-25

Abstract: Because of their many health benefits, blueberries are highly sought after as superfoods. There are also ongoing initiatives to enhance sustainability in blueberry packaging by selecting appropriate materials. Ideal packaging should ensure the safe delivery of the fruit to consumers while maintaining product quality, addressing environmental concerns, and promoting circularity. The environmental impact of four different packaging materials was assessed using a comparative cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment. The materials evaluated included a cardboard package (CB), a cardboard package with a cellulose lid (CBC), a polypropylene (PP) as a control, and a punnet made from rice straw topped with polylactic acid (RPLA), a bio-based plastic. The evaluation considered all environmental impact categories, utilizing Sphera GaBi software and the CML 2016 method. Special attention was given to various end-of-life scenarios, determining energy resources and fossil abiotic depletions. The results indicate that RPLA is the most eco-friendly option, with the lowest carbon footprint and energy resources. CB has a larger carbon footprint but less overall impact than traditional incineration, while CBC has the highest impact during recycling, mainly due to marine ecotoxicity. PP has a relatively low impact on energy resources and fossil abiotic depletion compared to CB and CBC packaging materials.

Keywords: energy resources; environmental impacts; life cycle assessment; packaging materials; end-of-life scenarios; fossil abiotic depletion; blueberry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/13/3232/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/13/3232/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:13:p:3232-:d:1683586

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().