Life Cycle Assessments
Aluminum
Aluminum Can Life Cycle Analysis
The Aluminum Association calls its 2010 study (undertaken by PE Americas) on the environmental footprint of the aluminum can "one of the most comprehensive life cycle analyses (LCA) ever conducted by an industry group." Learn More | Download Report [PDF, 1.4Mb]
Plastic
PET bottle reverse logistics—environmental performance of California’s CRV program
2012 In this paper, Brandon Kuczenski & Roland Geyer characterize the environmental burdens that result from a PET bottle in the CRV program being collected and recycled.More info
Sustainability Metrics: Life Cycle Assessment and Green Design in Polymers
2010 peer-reviewed paper that uses life cycle assessments to compare the environmental impacts of 12 different polymers (including bioplastics) when "green design principles" are applied to their manufacture.
More info
Life Cycle Inventory of Recycled Plastic
2010 study on the environmental impacts of processing and using recycled PET and HDPE, including energy requirements, solid wastes, and atmospheric and waterborne emissions.
Download report [pdf, 273kb]
Life Cycle Inventory of PET and PLA
A 2007 full life cycle inventory of PET and PLA water bottles found PET environmentally preferable to its corn-based counterpart.
More info | Download report [pdf, 202kb]
Glass
Glass Life Cycle Analysis
A 2010 analysis by Owens-Illinois of the carbon emissions produced during each phase in the glass life cycle.
Learn more | Download report [pdf,2Mb]
All Containers
Life Cycle Inventory of Soft Drinks in Glass, Aluminum, and PET
A 2009 study of glass, aluminum, and PET soft drink containers found PET bottles produced less solid waste, less greenhouse gas emission, and used less energy than the other two container types. The study covered production of the containers and end-of-life uses, but did not include data on post-fabrication transportation to the filling site, filling, distribution, storage, retail use and consumer use.
More info | Download report [pdf, 484kb]
Paper
Life Cycle Assessment of U.S. Average Corrugated Product
A new U.S. corrugated industry Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study shows a 32% reduction per unit in the industry’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 2006 and 2010.
More info | Download report [pdf, 4.2mb]
