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Allocating environmental impacts within life cycle assessment (LCA) is a recognised methodological problem. Different allocation methods have been developed to fulfil the various goals of LCA studies. At present, there is neither a consensus regarding the method to be used nor a one-fits-all method for dealing with recycling in LCA. The paper discusses some of the main allocation procedures practised in the pulp and paper industry, namely those covered by ISO/TS 14067:2018, GHG Protocol/PAS 2050, and the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF). All in all, the allocation method described in the ISO/TS 14067:2018 standard was considered the most appropriate to account for open-loop recycling of paper products. However, the method neither considers the number of subsequent uses of recycled fibres, nor the recycled fibre age. Yet, both of them are considered especially important in the open-loop recycling of paper products. In order to account for these aspects, the present study proposes an advanced, step-wise approach to handle allocation in LCAs accounting for the open-loop recycling of paper products. The advanced approach is based on the fibre mass flow model used to calculate the mean fibre age and the mean number of uses of paper products within the European context. The approach was validated with the data from the pulp and paper industry, particularly examining the newsprint paper grade with different contents of recycled fibre and fibre age. The paper, however, introduces all the parameters required to perform allocation based on the proposed method for other paper grades. The categpory of global warming potential was considered in the study as an illustrative example. yet the method could be applied to other impact assessment categories. The results calculated using the proposed allocation approach were compared to those obtained with the allocation methods described in the GHG Protocol/PAS 2050 and the PEF. The proposed allocation method can be used to guide further development of available standards and the product category rules, which will contribute to increased harmonisation and consistency of LCA studies in the pulp and paper sector, as well as to the enhanced practical implementation of LCA in industry.

The interest for using metallic nanoparticles for active packaging derives from its superior antimicrobial efficacy, no negative impacts on the food sensory properties and compatibility with harsh polymer processing conditions. There are a few candidates for this purpose, and the selection of which can be assisted by considering the packaging's environmental impacts. As a case study, three packaging films incorporating different active agents (silver nanoparticles, titanium dioxide nanoparticles and a mixture of both) were evaluated using life cycle assessment and the associated impacts were calculated and compared. The functional unit was set in such a way that it directly focuses on the function that the antimicrobial packaging is supposed to deliver: to ensure food safety and quality. To this end, the antimicrobial efficacy of each agent was integrated in the environmental impact calculation. The results show that the film incorporating the mixture of nanoparticles had the lowest environmental impacts. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Packaging plays an important role in ensuring food safety and quality, and the development of active packaging, especially antimicrobial packaging, enables actively inhibiting/killing the microorganisms causing food spoilage and thus extending the product's shelf life. A survey of the publications revealed that generally 50% shelf life extension is possible. The goal of this study is to assess the overall environmental performance of the food and packaging system considering the effect of food loss reduction by using active packaging. A comparative life cycle assessment has been carried out, focusing on a case study: essential oil component-enabled packaging for fresh beef. Different scenarios were set up to contrast the situations of food using conventional packaging (current situation) and food using novel active packaging (containing active coating). Additionally, a sensitivity analysis has been integrated, aiming to identify the breakeven point of the balance. In the scenarios using the best-performance active packaging, it was shown that a breakeven point can be achieved across the four impact categories evaluated, including global warming, fossil energy demand, acidification potential and eutrophication potential. It is expected that the obtained results would serve as guidelines for active packaging development striving for a positive eco-profile of the food and packaging system. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Even though research on nanotechnology has increased rapidly in the last decades, the application of nanotechnology in food and beverage packaging started to show an interest in the scientific community much more recently. Food safety, quality and improvements of properties compared with conventional materials make nanomaterials very attractive in the field of food and beverage packaging applications. Furthermore, in many cases, nanomaterials are used for both food packaging and the food contained, especially when we talk about nanomaterials for active and intelligent packaging. Oxygen scavengers, antimicrobial nanomaterials and nanobiosensors are some examples of current research efforts on nanomaterials for food packaging. This fact has led to a variety of nanoparticles and nanomaterials. The wide range of existing nanomaterials could make its selection for food packaging applications a challenge. Thus, building up a map based on the current state-of-the-art nanoparticles and nanomaterials is required. Furthermore, there is a need to classify all the nanomaterials used specifically in food packaging, independently of their nature, the packaging material and the way they are integrated to this material. In this paper, a classification of the latest advances in this field was made accompanied by the use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in order to find which are the most relevant (and/or expected to be potentially exploited in the near future) nanomaterials in the area of food packaging. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper is the second part of a two-paper series dealing with the sustainability evaluation of a new communicative packaging concept. The communicative packaging concept includes a device that allows changing the expiry date of the product as function of temperature during transport and storage: a flexible best-before-date (FBBD). Such device was analysed in a consumer unit consisting of a nanoclay-based polylactic acid tray filled with pork chops. An economic assessment was made through the use of life cycle costing (LCC) methodology proposed by Bovea and Vidal (Resources, Conservation and Recycling Volume 41, Issue 2, May 2004, Pages 133-145) where both internal and external costs were considered. Furthermore, the social aspects were analysed using a contingent valuation (CV) of the willingness to pay (WTP). The sustainability assessment of FBBD was made through the combination of life cycle assessment (LCA) and LCC results, together with the CV of the WTP according to the method proposed by Bovea and Vidal. It was assumed that the use of the FBBD minimizes the food losses from 3.5% to 0.5%. LCC results show that internal costs related to pork chops and logistic supply chain life cycle represent more than 90% of life cycle cost. The use of FBBD communicative device could increase pork chop selling price between 0.01 and 0.1 a,not sign since the purchasing cost of this communicative device is included in this price. WTP results show that FBBD purchasing cost for consumer acceptance is estimated as 0.05 a,not sign/FBBD. Therefore, only pork chop selling price for scenarios 1 (0.05 a,not sign/device) and 3 (0.01 a,not sign/device) could be accepted by consumers. The most sustainable situation is reached when the cost of the FBBD is as less as possible (0.01 a,not sign). The use of FBBD communicative device has economic advantages for perishable products since it contributes to the increase in the economic savings due to the reduction of food losses. However, these economic savings represent a small percentage over pork chop selling price, and therefore, an FBBD price less than 0.02 a,not sign/device is required. If a lower price for the communicative device is reached, satisfying the WTP of consumers (0.05 a,not sign/FBBD), the communicative package will be much more sustainable. It is expected that the competitiveness of FBBD communicative device will be improved in the future. This might be accomplished by reducing FBBD production and distribution costs and increasing their social acceptance, providing more sustainable solutions.

Purpose In recent years, a new perspective for food packaging has emerged as a result of several issues like quality, safety, competitive prices or providing of useful information to consumers. This new perspective is called communicative packaging. Communicative packaging may influence consumers/companies on purchasing decisions. Since the environmental evaluation of such systems has not yet been performed, this paper is focused on the environmental evaluation of a flexible best-before-date (FBBD) communicative device on a packaging consumer unit and its implications on reducing environmental impacts related to fresh products. This consumer unit consists of a nanoclay-based polylactic acid tray filled with pork chops. Methods The environmental assessment of the consumer unit was made through life cycle assessment (LCA) using a cradle-to-gate approach. Environmental impacts were assessed according to the Eco-Indicator 99 v 2.1 methodology in Individualist (I) perspective. Results and discussion Several results were obtained from the LCA. With regard to environmental impacts of the FBBD, most of them were due to the paper substrate used for the manufacture of this communicative packaging concept as well as to the transports for delivering the components of the FBBD communicative device. On the other hand, when environmental impacts of packaging system with and without FBBD were compared, a large environmental load was detected for the system that has the communicative device affixed as a result of the higher weight of the package. However, the environmental load caused by the use of the FBBD was minimal in comparison with the total environmental load of the whole packaging system. On the contrary, the consumer unit that has the communicative device affixed showed less environmental burden than the consumer unit that has not affixed the device. This was due to the environmental benefits that the communicative device provides by reducing the amount of out-of-date packaged products at retailer outlets. Conclusions The use of a FBBD contributes to minimize environmental burdens related to the production, packaging and delivery of pork chops since it facilitates a dynamic control of out-of-date products even though the consumer unit with FBBD weighs 1 g more than the consumer unit that does not use the communicative device. Recommendations The results presented in this paper are estimated results of a specific case study for a prototype of communicative packaging device. Consequently, these results must be considered as a first approach according to future developments on communicative packaging.

Environmental issues are a key objective for European paper industry. Among the initiatives addressed to minimise the environmental impacts, this industry has an important focus on the product itself. Paper industry is continuously improving environmental profile of their products by using high percentages of recycled fibres as substitute of virgin fibres. The use of recycled cellulose fibres has taken a considerable extent during last decade and recovered paper became an indispensable secondary raw material for the paper manufacturing, accounting for 50% of the total fibre raw material in European countries. Despite of these assets of paper and board recycling, there are few specific studies that analyse the environmental behaviour of the paper products considering the use virgin and/or recycled fibres. The aim of this work is to assess and compare the environmental impact of corrugated board production by using different component papers, based on virgin fibbers (kraftliner) and recycled fibres (testliner and wellenstoff). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was applied in order to identify, quantify and evaluate the environmental impacts. LCA software GaBi 4 was used to support this analysis.