Lecture

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1.  Food packaging and the environment

2.  Mid-term exam

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Prof. Ester Segal
 Main environmental issues
•  Solid waste
•  Hazardous materials
•  Ozone depleAon – global warming
•  DepleAon of fossil resources

Source: ministry of environmental protection 2

 Environmental issues related to packaging
•  Solid waste:
–  average amount of solid waste per person in Israel (2011) is
1.6 kg/day → ~600 kg/year.

Source: ministry of environmental protection 3

 Environmental issues related to packaging
•  Solid waste:
–  The majority of the solid waste in Israel is land filled (more
than 75% in 2011).

Recycling in Israel
Source: ministry of environmental protection

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 Environmental issues related to packaging
•  Solid waste
Packaging materials are responsible for 20% of all
waste in Israel.

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Packaging waste producAon in Israel vs. EU

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SoluAons for waste management

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 Environmental issues related to packaging
•  Hazardous compounds:
–  ProducAon of dioxins: specifically PVC and paper-based
packaging materials.
–  AccumulaAon of phthalate plasAcizers in underground water.
–  ConcentraAon of heavy metals

•  Ozone depleAon:
–  Use of non-renewable energy sources leads to global warming.

•  DepleAon of fossil resources:

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 Development of sustainable packaging
•  Avoid over packaging – use minimal but adequate
amount of materials to meet safety, quality and
market needs.

•  When feasible, use packages that are made of

renewable, environmentally friendly, or recycled
materials without compromising product safety
and quality or greatly increasing cost.
•  Avoid toxic consAtuents and use energy efficient
technologies.
•  Use methodologies such as a life cycle assessment
(LCA) to aid the development of sustainable
packaging. 9
 Basic concepts
•  Biomaterials - Any material (metal, plasAc, ceramic)
implanted in the body.
•  Biopolymers/bioplasAcs – polymers based on renewable
materials, bio/new carbon vs. fossil/old carbon (ASTM
D6866).
•  Biodegradability - refers to complete removal from the
environment in a safe and efficacious manner – enter
into the microbial food chain!!!
Note: not all bio-based plasAcs are biodegradable and
not all biodegradable plasAcs are bio-based.

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 What is a carbon footprint
"The carbon footprint is a measure of the exclusive total
amount of carbon dioxide emissions that is directly and
indirectly caused by an acAvity or is accumulated over the
life stages of a product."

Carbon footprint

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What is the problem?

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Why use bioplasAcs?

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 Why use bioplasAcs?
Bio feedstock vs. petro/fossil feedstock

→ they have zero carbon footprint

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Source: Ramani Narayan, Michigan State University
 ProducAon of bioplasAcs in Europe

Source:http://www.european-bioplastics.org/media/files/docs/en-pr/061121_Annexe_Bioplastics_Boom.pdf 15
 ?‫אז מה זה‬
•  LDPE with a chemical addiAves (by
EPI) that are oxo-biodegradable
plasAc addiAves.
•  How does it work?
•  AcceleraAon of the polymer
reacAon with oxygen.
•  “EPI’s TDPA® formulaAons catalyze or
accelerate this reacAon and increase the
rate of the degradaAon by several orders
of magnitude – i.e. 100’s to 1000’s of
Ames faster, making TDPA® incorporated
products degrade and physically
disintegrate within a few weeks to 1-2
years.”
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hlp://www.epi-global.com/en/how-it-works.php
Chemistry of OxidaAve DegradaAon of Polyolefins

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 Chemistry of OxidaAve DegradaAon of Polyolefins

Bo3om Line:
•  Many reports include the terms “biodegradability” or “biodegradaAon” in the Atle or
text.
•  However, some studies use the terms to refer to evidence of microbial growth on the
surface of the polymer whereas other studies use the term to indicate that the PE
samples were subjected to a bioAc environment.

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 Poly(lacAc acid) (PLA)
A biodegradable, thermoplasAc, aliphaAc polyester derived
from renewable resources, such as corn starch (in the U.S.)
or sugarcanes (rest of world).
Synthesis:
1.  Bacterial fermentaAon is used to produce lacAc acid
from corn starch or cane sugar.
2.  PolymerizaAon:
PLA + H2O

Ring-opening polymerizaAon

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PLA synthesis

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 Examples of biodegradable packaging
NatureWorks™ PLA

PLA tray with 2 percent

PLA-based Biomax® Thermal 300
“Under the right exposed to 70ºC for 1 hour.
composting conditions a
BIOTA bottle will disappear
in 75 to 80 days”.

PLA tray without modifier –

exposed to 70ºC for 1 hour.

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 Problems associated with PLA:
•  RelaAvely high price (due to limited world producAon)
•  Processing issues: thermal stability (very narrow
processing window)
•  Poor mechanical properAes: brilleness, low impact
resistance
•  Product-related performance: water permeability, food
protecAon, etc.

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 Life Cycle Assessment
LCA – is a system approach for evaluaAng and minimizing
the adverse impacts of packaging on the environment.
The interacAons between the product and the environment may be assessed at
various stages throughout the product life cycle:
•  Cradle-to-gate assessment covers the stages from raw material to
product manufacture. Thus, only a par'al product life cycle from
manufacture ('cradle') to the factory gate, i.e. before it is
transported to the consumer.
• Cradle-to-grave is the full Life Cycle Assessment from manufacture
('cradle') to use phase and disposal phase ('grave').
• Cradle-to-cradle is a specific kind of cradle-to-grave assessment,
where the end-of-life disposal step for the product is a recycling
process.

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Why is it important?
We should ask:
which package has the
least environmental impact?

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Which package has the least environmental impact?

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4474042,00.html
"‫מעניין לקרוא – "למה הממשלה הוזילה את מחירי החלב בקרטון‬ 26
 LCA

Cradle-to-grave
Cradle-to-gate

Cradle-to-cradle

Source:http://webpub.allegheny.edu/dept/envisci/ESInfo/ES110sp2007/readings/LifeCycleAnalysis.htm 27
 Methodology of LCA
According to ISO 14040 and 14044
standards, the implementaAon of
LCA consists of four interrelated
phases:
1.  Goal and scope – defining the package and
related processes, establishing a context in
which assessment to be made. Defining a
“funcAonal unit”, which is expressed in terms
of the amount of product (e.g., the packaging
required to deliver a given volume of
beverage). Image: from Wikipedia

2.  Inventory analysis - involves data collecAon and

modeling of the product system, as well as
descripAon and verificaAon of data. This
encompasses all data related to environmental
Free software:
(e.g. CO2) and technical (e.g. intermediate CMLCA, MIET 2.0, EcoCalculator
chemicals) quanAAes for all relevant unit 28

processes within the study boundaries.

 Methodology of LCA
3. Impact assessment – evaluaAng potenAal
human health and environmental impacts due
to the material and energy consumpAon, solid
waste disposal and pollutant emission from the
inventory analysis.
4. InterpretaAon- evaluaAng the results of the
inventory analysis and impact assessment to
select preferred products or processes with the
least overall adverse environmental impacts.

Image: from Wikipedia

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Example: LCA of trays to package vegetables (Canada)
Functional unit: 52 in³ tray to contain
and permit the stacking and retailing of
fruits or vegetables to consumers in
Quebec in 2010. The volume refers to a
8⅜ inches long, 5⅞ inches wide and 1
inch deep tray

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LCA diagram

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 Example: LCA of trays for vegetables (Canada)
Studied parameters:

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 Example: LCA of trays for vegetables (Canada)
Studied parameters:

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Example: LCA of trays for vegetables (Canada)
Summary of results:

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Example: LCA of trays to package vegetables (Canada)
Summary of results:

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Let’s imagine the future

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