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Sustainable material comparisons using LCA

Betsy Bowers, executive director at Global EPS Sustainability Alliance, explores how LCA can be used to compare the environmental impact of different materials throughout their life cycle, from manufacturing to disposal.

Key Highlights:

Many prevailing environmental opinions are based on common misconceptions, such as the belief that paper is always preferable, and plastics are inherently bad. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) offers a way to correct and counter notions like these.

One of the key advantages of LCA is its ability to provide a side-by-side comparison of materials or products. LCAs measure the environmental impacts of a product throughout its entire “life,” including various stages such as manufacturing (materials and energy use), transportation, usage, and disposal, capturing how it interacts with the environment at each stage. Using this kind of analysis to evaluate materials covers a broad range of ecological consequences and relies entirely on data, removing the possibility of subjective interpretation.

Global uptake of LCA is one of sustainability’s great victories. While it doesn’t often make headlines, LCA explicitly underpins many environmental policies and laws, including U.S. tax credit programs, Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations, and a host of initiatives in the European Union, China, Japan, and elsewhere. And for an even wider range of public programs, LCAs have evolved from a suggestion to an option, and now, increasingly, a requirement.

When conducted in accordance with recognised standards, LCAs are one of the best available tools for ensuring that the actions taken by companies, government, and society achieve meaningful results. To guide more sustainable choices, broader and more comprehensive adoption of Life Cycle protocols can replace opinion with facts.

Global EPS Alliance

LCAs & EPS transport packaging

Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), a material wrongly identified as an environmentally bad actor, offers a prime example of the important role LCA can play in this capacity.

EPS transport packaging is the gold standard for protecting products that touch our daily lives: food, medicine, electronics, and much more. It is heavily relied upon to preserve product integrity across the global supply chain.

Despite these advantages, EPS faces misconceptions that can be dispelled through rigorous LCA studies. For example, contrary to public opinion, cardboard fish boxes may not offer environmental advantages over EPS. This is supported by numerous peer-reviewed life cycle studies on fish box packaging systems. A 2024 life cycle study by SGS Intron reports the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) for cardboard fish boxes is 1.55-2.91 times greater than EPS, and the environmental impact due to potential global warming from changes in land use is 38-75 times greater for paper-based fish boxes.

EPS

Another study concluded paper packaging faces sustainability challenges due to the increased use of coatings and other composites that allow it to meet the function of plastic packaging. These paper materials have lower recycling rates and can pose a disruption to existing waste management processes.

The study’s findings reveal an inconsistency in EU policy objectives. Plastic packaging reduction goals outlined in the Packaging Ordinance contradict the Green Deal's intention to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Replacing just one-tenth of plastic packaging with other packaging materials could increase the amount of packaging waste by 10-20%.

There is a lack of understanding surrounding the complexities of packaging function, total environmental impacts, and end-of-life outcomes. Businesses that consider public opinion alongside LCA data will be able to develop more effective packaging that delivers true environmental benefits aligning with consumer expectations.

Using LCA for sustainable building material choices

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are a method of comparing products by using LCA data, widely used in the built environment industry. EPDs are defined by common denominator criteria covered under a Product Category Rule (PCR), which is a consensus-based standard outlined under ISO 14025, Environmental Labels and Declarations. EPDs must be conducted by a qualified service provider and undergo a rigorous peer review to ensure impartiality.

In the building and construction industry, EPDs are used by businesses to qualify products for environmental certification programs and to substantiate environmental performance claims. They are used by architects and specifiers to make material selections using novel sustainability reporting tools such as Carbon Footprint Calculators and Environmental Indicator Calculators.

For plastic building materials like EPS insulation, EPDs and LCAs are particularly valuable. These tools help demonstrate the environmental benefits of EPS insulation, including its energy efficiency and recyclability. By providing detailed, product-specific environmental data, EPDs enable a more accurate comparison between building materials. Without the more detailed life cycle protocols delivered by Product Category Rules and Environmental Product Declarations, packaging LCA is often used in a generalised fashion by engineers and procurement officers, potentially overlooking the specific advantages of materials like EPS.

LCA trends

Life Cycle methodology and scope are continually evolving. Interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, industry, and governments is shaping a robust research landscape. Circular economy is leading to a diversification of end-of-life options not covered under today’s typical Life Cycle parameters. With specialised recovery processes on the rise, like chemical recycling, pyrolysis, and biodegradation pathways, additional data will be needed.

A call to use less plastic has garnered popular appeal in the drive to combat climate change and ocean pollution. But alternative products often have more severe environmental impacts that need to be quantified to avoid increased food waste, loss of product protection, or increased carbon emissions.

LCAs demonstrate that care must be taken when formulating policies or interventions to reduce plastic use. We must be mindful not to attempt to fix one problem by removing working solutions for others.

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. It is an essential tool to help companies embrace environmental responsibility, make informed decisions, and create a world where businesses thrive while protecting the planet.

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