Packaging Europe and PIQET discuss emerging trends in LCA
PIQET has been prominently featured in Packaging Europe's insightful article on emerging trends in LCA.
Packaging Europe, a trusted source for packaging industry insights, speaks with PIQET’s founder and LCA expert, Tim Grant on the evolving landscape of LCA and its profound impact on the packaging industry.
Read the full article below to explore the dynamic trends shaping the LCA landscape and discover how PIQET is at the forefront of this transformative journey.
To start with, it’d be great if you could introduce yourself and the work you do.
My name is Tim Grant, I’m the director of Lifecycles, Australia’s most experienced provider of circular economy and sustainability research, consulting, tool development, emission factors and training.
We own and manage a packaging LCA software tool called PIQET (which stands for Packaging Impact Quick Evaluation Tool). This is a comprehensive LCA tool for optimizing and comparing the environmental footprint of packaging and has been in the market for 15 years.
The world of LCA is moving fast these days and it is hard to keep up with the latest happenings so a large part of the work we do is feed our expertise into a dynamic tool, ultimately making LCA more accessible and digestible for the packaging industry.
How has the packaging-related LCA field evolved since you started out in it? Have things gotten simpler, or are they now more complicated?
Since I embarked on this journey 30 years ago, the packaging-related LCA field has witnessed remarkable growth and transformation.
Packaging has always been an important area for life cycle assessments with many LCA studies conducted on the manufacturing of packaging and waste management options for used packaging.
Over the years, we have seen significant advancements in data availability, methodologies, and tools, enabling us to conduct more comprehensive assessments. More recently the role of packaging in product protection and communication has come into focus with LCA being based on packaging function and not just focusing on waste and recycling.
The industry’s awareness of sustainability has also skyrocketed, driving the demand for LCA insights and driving innovation in packaging solutions.
Is there a need for more standardisation? It sometimes seems as if it’s possible to find an LCA with a negative perspective on a certain material, and a different LCA with a positive perspective on that same material. Could/should the industry work towards harmonisation?
Absolutely. Standardisation plays a vital role in ensuring consistency and comparability in LCA studies, allowing for meaningful benchmarking and decision-making.
The packaging sector is one of the few sectors where there is no definitive global guidance on how LCA should be undertaken. This is maybe because packaging is also part of many other product systems and is not a product in and of its own right.
I think the problem of LCA results providing conflicting answers - is that the results are truly different – context matters, - the type of product, the weight of material, the local end of life options – all effect our individual materials perform in different products and geographies. That’s not to say there isn’t variation in data and methods as well - there is – but I believe with is getting less and let the case.
In the context of life cycle assessments in packaging, what are some emerging trends we should be aware of?
There are several intriguing trends emerging in the packaging-related LCA space.
Customers are requiring LCAs and other environmental data to be reviewed and certified by third parties. Tools like PIQET are including updates that make it possible to semi-automate the process of producing ISO 14044 compliance studies. There are also significant environmental certifications being used for materials and products such as carbon neutrality and forest certification.
The circular economy is leading to a diversification of end-of-life options from simple recycling, waste to energy and landfill to more specialised processes including open and closed-loop recycling, chemical recycling, pyrolysis, and biodegradation pathways.
Also, the electricity grid across the world is decarbonizing. This will change where the traditional hotspots occur in packaging supply chains with those willing and able to take advantage of decarbonized inputs.
What does the future hold for LCAs in the packaging space?
The future for LCAs in the packaging space is incredibly promising. As sustainability continues to be a top priority for businesses and consumers alike, the demand for robust LCA insights will only increase.
LCA will continue to play an essential role in driving innovation towards sustainable packaging solutions, influencing material choices, design decisions, and end-of-life strategies. We will mostly likely see LCA tools become a mandatory part of the packaging development process.