Addressing the circularity and sustainability of different single-use and reusable crates used for fresh fruit and vegetables packaging

Abstract

This study assesses the sustainability of single-use (cardboard and wooden) crates and reusable plastic crates (RPC) from three perspective life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC) and circular indicators: Material Circular Indicator (MCI), Material Reutilisation Score (MRS), and Circular Index (CI). A cradle-to-grave life cycle approach was applied to transporting 1 kg of fresh fruit or vegetables to the retailer point. The base case assumed single use for cardboard and wooden crates and 140 rotations for RPC. An optimised scenario was also assessed for RPC, assuming full recycling at its end-of-life. LCA, LCC, and circular indicators (MCI and CI) results indicated that RPC was the most sustainable and circular packaging. Increasing RPC recyclability to 100 % improved circularity scores, however its environmental impact slight increased. These results reflect that the food industry should adopt RPC use because of their higher economic, environmental performance, and circularity.