Reduction of CO2 emissions by improved management of material and product use: the case of primary packaging

Approximately 40% of the global primary energy use and emission of CO2 is related to the production of materials. Therefore, improved management of materials is likely to lead to substantial reductions in CO2 emissions. The objective of our study is to investigate the potential and cost efficiency of CO2 emission reduction by means of improved management of material use for primary packaging in western Europe. CO2 emission related to primary packaging accounts for ≈3% of western Europe's CO2 emissions. Measures for improved use of primary packaging material are identified and evaluated. The potential and cost of each measure is established. A supply curve for CO2-emission reduction is presented based on data on the use of primary packaging in 1995. We show that technically it appears possible to reduce the CO2 emissions related to the production and use of primary packaging in 1995 by 51%, by implementing new packaging technology that is expected to become available between 1995 and 2010. In this investigation, improvement of energy efficiency in material production processes and changes in packaging demand are not taken into account. All evaluated measures can be implemented cost effectively when considering life cycle costs. Evaluation of the improvement measures shows that 9% reduction of CO2 emissions related to primary packaging is feasible by using lighter packages. Material substitution can lead to a reduction of 10%. From a CO2 emission reduction point of view, the most promising improvement is substitution of single use packaging by re-usable packaging. This may lead to 32% reduction in CO2 emissions. However, large scale implementation of this option may be very complex.

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