A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Reusable Packaging Systems Under Alternative Logistic Configurations

Packaging plays a crucial role in product preservation and distribution but also constitutes a major source of environmental burden. In the beverage sector, where unit value is low, secondary and tertiary packaging significantly influence the environmental profile of the final product. This study applies a standardized Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to evaluate the environmental impacts of five packaging configurations for aluminum beverage cans. The analysis compares three current market scenarios with two alternative solutions based on reusable plastic crates (RPCs). The system boundaries include production, distribution, end-of-life, and, where applicable, reverse logistics. A functional unit of one fully packaged 0.33 L aluminum can is adopted. Results reveal that while single-use cardboard solutions achieve favorable performance under certain impact categories, reusable systems outperform them when a sufficient number of reuse cycles is achieved and reverse logistics are efficiently managed. Sensitivity analyses highlight the critical influence of transport distances and reuse frequency on overall impacts, with performance deteriorating for reusable systems beyond 200 km or below 50 reuse cycles. These findings underscore the importance of logistics optimization and reuse planning to maximize environmental benefits. The study contributes to current research by providing a comprehensive comparison of entire packaging systems, addressing a gap in LCA literature, and offering practical guidance for the transition toward circular packaging strategies in line with recent EU regulatory targets.