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LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF FRESH FRUIT PACKAGING SYSTEMS: ENVIRONMENTAL BREAK-EVEN POINTS BETWEEN REUSABLE AND SINGLE-USE OPTIONS

  • Giovanni Marmora - Department of Industrial Engineering (DIIn), University of Salerno, Italy
  • Carmen Ferrara - Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico RSE SpA, Italy
  • Vittorio Roselli - Department of Industrial Engineering (DIIn), University of Salerno, Italy
  • Giovanni De Feo - Department of Industrial Engineering (DIIn), University of Salerno, Italy

DOI 10.31025/2611-4135/2026.20639

Released under All rights reserved

Copyright: © 2026 CISA Publisher

Abstract

This study presents a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of four packaging systems for fresh fruit distribution in the Italian retail supply chain: single-use rigid polypropylene (PP) crates, reusable foldable PP crates, single-use expanded polystyrene (EPS) crates, and single-use corrugated cardboard crates. The assessment follows ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards and adopts a multi-level packaging perspective, including primary, secondary and tertiary components. The functional unit is 2.5 kg of fresh fruit, while the system boundaries cover packaging production, transport to the packing facility, distribution, reverse logistics, washing operations and end-of-life management. Environmental impacts were quantified using the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint and Endpoint (H) method. Results show that the reusable crate system achieves the best environmental performance under baseline conditions, namely 50 reuse cycles and a 200 km distribution distance. At endpoint level, this scenario reduces impacts by 73% for Human Health, 72% for Ecosystem Quality and 75% for Resource Scarcity compared with the worst-performing alternatives. Single-use PP crates exhibit the poorest performance due to the inability to amortize production burdens over multiple uses. EPS crates benefit from their low weight but remain constrained by fossil-based production and end-of-life limitations, whereas corrugated cardboard crates are penalised by higher material mass and lower pallet efficiency. Contribution analysis confirms that production dominates single-use systems, while logistics become more relevant in the reusable scenario. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that reuse remains preferable even at 20 cycles and 500 km, although its advantage depends on efficient pooling, high return rates and controlled replacement losses.

Keywords

Editorial History

  • Received: 26 Jun 2026
  • Accepted: 05 Oct 2026
  • Available online: 12 Nov 2026

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