Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Frozen Food
Packaging Systems
Kevin Li, Adrienne Lewis, Lisa Keaton, Allison Weis, David Scoville,
Ted Espenschied
Overview
• The goal of this project was to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of two types of packaging used in the frozen entrée industry- Tray-and-Film and Traytite
• The client for this project was Kurt Naas of A-line Corporation
Life Cycle Assessment
• Tracing the environmental impacts of a product from “cradle to grave”
• Four steps of an LCA:
–Goal and scope definition (and redefinition)
– Inventory analysis
– Impact assessment
– Improvement analysis
Defining Impacts
• Raw Materials/Energy Use
– Water
– Wood
– Energy
• Global Warming
– CO2 and Methane
• Eutrophication
– NH3
• Acidification
– SOx and NOx
• Solid Waste
Identifying relevant processes
• Raw materials acquisition
• Materials manufacture
• Production
• Use/reuse/maintenance
• Waste management
Data Collection
• Sources of data and process information– Industry experts– Existing LCA reports– Machine manufacturers– EPA websites
• Limitations and assumptions– Data is unavailable or inaccessible– Process ambiguity– Shared or negligible processes
• “Cradle to Gate” assessment
Traytite®• Solid Bleached Sulfate (SBS) paperboard tray and lid• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) coating
Tray-and-film• SBS outer carton• PET tray• PET film
PHASE 1Raw Materials Acquisition
Wood Harvest
Transport
Crude Oil Extraction
Transport
Tray –and-film CartonTray
Photo Sources: Dummit, 2008, http://sprinterusa.com/images/tray2.gif, http://www.baypack.com/cartoners/images/carton_side.gif, http://media.canada.com/cfe7ac49-e090-4323-a853-83766709cd57/shelloilsands_cw_073007.jpg, , http://www.germes-online.com/direct/dbimage/50282392/PET_Plain_Film_For_Thermal_Lamination.jpghttp://www.webstaurantstore.com/images/1262027_lg.jpg, http://wwwtest.enbridge-us.com/uploadedImages/Enbridge_Energy/About_Us/Our_Businesses/Natural_Gas_Segment/Trucking_Services/Dufour-truck.gif
Traytite
Tray and Film
Traytite Film
Traytite Coating
PHASE 2aMaterials Manufacture
Pulping
Papermaking
PET Extrusion
Transport
PET Resin Production
Traytite Carton Paperboard
Tray-and-film Carton Paperbaord
Transport
Paperboard plant(International Paper)
PET resin plant(DuPont)
Traytite PET coating
APET for PET tray
Transport
Precursor Amorphous PET (APET)
APET for PET film(in DuPont)
WoodPetroleum
Intermediates
To Paper Conversion Plant
To Paper PET Packaging Plant
Photo Sources: Dummit 2008
PET ExtrusionPrinting/Cutting
Transport
Thermoforming
Trim Press
Transport
Dryer
Transport
Pre-heating
Folder/gluing
PET Packaging Plant(Associated Packaging
Technologies)
Paper Conversion Plant(Graphic Packaging
International)
PET Extrusion
Dryer
PHASE 2bProduct Fabrication
PET Plant(DuPont)
PET Film
Traytite, Tray-and-film Carton APET APET
Tray-and-film Carton
Traytite
PET Tray
Form Traytite
Fill
Freeze
Denester
Cartoning
Transport
Seal
Seal
PHASE 2cFilling/Packaging Distribution (Michelina’s)
MP-HT
ES-S
Photo Sources: http://www.aline1.com/products/?productID=61
To Consumer
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Traytite Tray&film
gra
ms/
pa
ckag
eRaw Materials Consumption
methanol
acetic acid
Ethylene Oxide
starch
Paraxylene
latex binder
Wood
•The TrayTite required less raw materials than the Tray-and-Film
•The consumption of water was the largest component of the raw materials for both product.
•The second largest resource used was wood used for the paper board of the TrayTite, and the Tray-and-Film carton
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Traytite Tray&film
Am
ou
nt U
sed
(m
l)
Water Use
Water
Results
Energy use (KJ)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
Traytite Tray&film
Am
ou
nt
Use
d (
kJ)
Total energy (kJ)
14% 3%
3%
56%
20%
1%2%1%
Energy Consumption by Process (Traytite) Resin Production (per
coating)Coating Production
Tree Harvesting (SBS)
Pulping (SBS)
Papermaking (SBS)
Transportation
Traytite Forming
TrayTite Sealing
2%0%
51%
2%
30%
11%
3%0% 0%0% 1%
Energy Consumption by Process (Tray-and-Film)
Resin Production (per film)
Film Production
Resin Production (per tray)
Tree Harvesting (SBS)
Pulping (SBS)
Papermaking (SBS)
Tray Production
Denesting
Tray Sealing
Cartoning
Transportation
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Traytite Tray and Film
GH
G e
mis
sio
ns
(g/p
acka
ge)
Global Warming Potential (CO2 Equivalents)
•The Tray-and-Film emits almost twice as much CO2 Equivalents as the Traytite
•Even though the breakdown of contributions from product, one process from each stands out clearly as the most
Coating resin production
Coating process
Tree harvest and transport
Pulping
Papermaking
Transport
Frozen food plant
Traytite Global Warming Potential (CO2 Equivalents)
Film resin Film production
Tray resin
Tree harvest and transport
Pulping
Papermaking
Paper conversion Tray
production
Frozen food plant
Transport
Tray and Film Global Warming Potential (CO2 Equivalents)
•Pulping involved with SBS paperboard production is the largest contributor for both products
•The production of the plastic for the tray in the Tray-and-Film design is the main reason why this product has higher greenhouse emissions.
0
0.0000002
0.0000004
0.0000006
0.0000008
0.000001
0.0000012
Tray and Film Traytite
Am
ou
nt
of
NH
3 (
kg)
Euthrophication Potential
0
0.5
1
1.5
Traytite Tray & Film
Acidification (g/unit)
SOx
NOx
0
0.0000002
0.0000004
0.0000006
0.0000008
0.000001
0.0000012
Tray Production Film Production
Am
ou
nt
of
NH
3 (k
g)
Eutrophication Potential for Tray-and-Film
Conclusions and Recommendations
Traytite vs. Tray-and-Film
• Resource consumption: Traytite
• Emissions: Traytite
• Recyclability: Tray and Film
• A thorough investigation of the two products, including material and energy inputs and emissions suggests that the Traytite package has a smaller impact on the environment than Tray-and-Film.
Recommendations
Category Traytite Tray-and-Film Both
Paper Use Re-design carton, increase use of recycled fiber
Water Use Reduced quantity of PET
Increase process efficiency, paper use, gray water
Recyclability Alternative Coating Non-black PET
Solid waste generation
Reengineer resin production
Increase internal recycling
Water Emissions Paperboard
Air Emissions Reduced paper/fiber use
Combustion of waste at factory
Conclusion
• The major negative environmental consequences (global warming, eutrophication, and acidification), are more substantial for the tray-and-film product than for the traytite product
• However, there is less room for improvement in traytite manufacturing and consumption