@article{10902/32677,
year = {2024},
month = {3},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10902/32677},
abstract = {Sustainable packaging is a crucial focus in the context of circular economy efforts. This study evaluates the circularity of two secondary packaging systems used in Spanish fresh food produces: Reusable Plastic Crates and Single-use Cardboard Boxes. A Mass Flow Analysis was performed to assess the material flows in the production and use phases of both systems and two circular indicators were applied: the Material Circularity Indicator and Product Circular Indicator. While most previous studies for single-use packaging use these indicators at the product level, this study applies a system approach since the Reusable Plastic Crates can be reused 100 times. The functional unit was defined as the distribution of 1000 tonnes of fresh products, resulting in the distribution of 6,666,700 packages with 15 kg of products. The Material Circularity Indicator and Product Circular Indicator results show that Reusable Plastic Crates are more circular than Singleuse Cardboard Boxes. The Product Circular Indicator provides a more comprehensive assessment of circularity by considering multiple life cycle stages, efficiency, and unrecoverable waste, resulting in a difference in circularity evaluations. The indicators used have limitations as they do not consider the resource stock. Further research is needed to explore this aspect.},
organization = {This study is developed in the frame the KAIROS-BIOCIR Project, Grant number KAIROS-BIOCIR Project PID2019-104925RB-C33 (AEO/FEDER, UE), financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness. The authors would like to thank ARECO for the support provided during the preparation of the research.},
publisher = {Elsevier},
publisher = {Heliyon, 2024, 10(6), e27922},
title = {Comparative assessment of two circularity indicators for the case of reusable versus single-use secondary packages for fresh foods in Spain},
author = {Sazdovski, Ilija and Batlle Bayer, Laura and Bala Gala, Alba and Margallo Blanco, María and Azarkamand, Sahar and Aldaco García, Rubén and Fullana i Palmer, Pere},
}