Environmental impacts of different single-use and multi-use packaging systems for fresh fish export

authored by: Guorun Svana Hilmarsdóttir, Bjorn Margeirsson, Sebastian Spierling, Olafur Ögmundarson
Abstract: The production and pollution of plastic present a significant threat to global ecosystems, where annual plastic emissions in aquatic ecosystems are projected to triple between 2020 and 2030. Currently, plastics are widely used for food packaging but depending on the polymers, properties, the recyclability ratio of the plastics varies. Polymers, such as polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PUR), and expanded polystyrene (EPS), are widely used for packaging and transporting foods such as fresh fish, where multi-use fish tubs often consist of PE and/or PUR and single-use boxes of EPS. This study evaluated the environmental impacts of reusable tubs of different volumes and sizes made of PE/PUR vs single-use EPS boxes, transporting 1000 tons (T) of fresh fish from Iceland to Europe, per year based on life cycle assessment methodology. This is to identify the packaging solution with the lowest environmental impact. The overall results show that multi-use tubs had lower environmental impacts when transporting 1000 T of fresh fish from Iceland to Europe per year, even during first year of usage. For Global warming impacts, producing and using EPS boxes for transporting 1000 T of fresh fish was 141 T CO₂-eq and ranged from 4 to 46 T CO₂-eq for variating multi-use packaging solutions for one year. The weight of the raw materials (plastics) and size of the tubs were key factors affecting the environmental impacts when transporting the tubs.
Organisation(s): Institute of Plastics and Circular Economy
External Organisation(s): University of Iceland
Matís Ltd
Type: Article
Journal: Journal of cleaner production
Volume: 447
No. of pages: 9
ISSN: 0959-6526
Publication date: 01.04.2024
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, General Environmental Science, Strategy and Management, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141427 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{8747eeac7c7a425993b3ab1d5dad233a,
title = "Environmental impacts of different single-use and multi-use packaging systems for fresh fish export",
abstract = "The production and pollution of plastic present a significant threat to global ecosystems, where annual plastic emissions in aquatic ecosystems are projected to triple between 2020 and 2030. Currently, plastics are widely used for food packaging but depending on the polymers, properties, the recyclability ratio of the plastics varies. Polymers, such as polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PUR), and expanded polystyrene (EPS), are widely used for packaging and transporting foods such as fresh fish, where multi-use fish tubs often consist of PE and/or PUR and single-use boxes of EPS. This study evaluated the environmental impacts of reusable tubs of different volumes and sizes made of PE/PUR vs single-use EPS boxes, transporting 1000 tons (T) of fresh fish from Iceland to Europe, per year based on life cycle assessment methodology. This is to identify the packaging solution with the lowest environmental impact. The overall results show that multi-use tubs had lower environmental impacts when transporting 1000 T of fresh fish from Iceland to Europe per year, even during first year of usage. For Global warming impacts, producing and using EPS boxes for transporting 1000 T of fresh fish was 141 T CO2-eq and ranged from 4 to 46 T CO2-eq for variating multi-use packaging solutions for one year. The weight of the raw materials (plastics) and size of the tubs were key factors affecting the environmental impacts when transporting the tubs.",
keywords = "Expanded polystyrene, Fish packaging, Life-cycle assessment, Multi-use tub, Polyethylene, Single-use box",
author = "Hilmarsd{\'o}ttir, {Guorun Svana} and Bjorn Margeirsson and Sebastian Spierling and Olafur {\"O}gmundarson",
note = "Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the Icelandic Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries for funding the study (Umhverfisv{\ae}nni matv{\ae}laumb{\'u}{\dh}ir; UMMAT no. ANR21060110 ) and the University of Iceland Research Fund (no. 15647 ). ",
year = "2024",
month = apr,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141427",
language = "English",
volume = "447",
journal = "Journal of cleaner production",
issn = "0959-6526",
publisher = "Elsevier Ltd.",
}