An economic and environmental analysis of wine packaging systems in Italy: A life cycle (LC) approach

The main aim of this study was to perform a combined life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of the most used wine packaging systems in Italy. Packaging plays a key role in food and beverage production and supply chain, but the increasing volume of packaging used causes many environmental concerns. The wine sector is no exception, especially in Italy that is the largest producer in the world. Eight packaging alternatives were compared in environmental and economic terms assuming a functional unit of three litres and a cradle to grave approach: one aseptic carton system, two bag-in-box systems, two PET bottle systems, and three glass bottle systems. The results were analysed with an eco-efficiency portfolio approach. There was consistency between the LCA and LCC results for most of the packaging systems. From both the environmental and economical point of views, aseptic cartons and bag-in-box systems were the most sustainable alternatives, while the glass systems had the worst global performances due to the high weight and consequent huge energy consumption during bottle production. The size of the containers was the key factor that most affected the results both in environmental and economic terms.