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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Life cycle assessment and circular economy in conjunction with treatment methodologies: Presentation and critical comparison between different food industry waste
ClearLife cycle assessment and circular economy in conjunction with treatment methodologies: Presentation and critical comparison between different food industry waste
This review applies life cycle assessment and circular economy principles to multiple food industry sectors to evaluate environmental trade-offs in processing and packaging. While not focused on microplastics specifically, it provides analytical tools applicable to assessing plastic packaging impacts across food supply chains.
Combining Eco-Design and LCA as Decision-Making Process to Prevent Plastics in Packaging Application
Researchers applied simultaneous eco-design and life cycle assessment (LCA) to help a small food packaging company redesign its frozen food packaging to reduce plastic use and microplastic dispersal into marine environments. The case study demonstrated that integrating circular economy principles and LCA from the design stage enabled more effective material substitution decisions than applying these tools sequentially.
Contributions aux enjeux des transitions dans les domaines des produits et matériaux durables
This paper is not primarily about microplastics. It is a broad research summary covering sustainable food systems, life cycle assessment methodologies, alternative proteins, and biodegradable food packaging materials. While it briefly mentions including microplastics in life cycle assessment methods, the focus is on food system sustainability and antimicrobial packaging rather than microplastic contamination or health effects.
The capabilities and deficiencies of life cycle assessment to address the plastic problem
This review critically evaluates the capabilities and limitations of life cycle assessment (LCA) as a tool for understanding the full environmental impacts of plastics across their supply chain, from production through end-of-life disposal. The authors argue that LCA can contextualize plastic impacts relative to alternative materials and reveal invisible environmental costs throughout the plastic life cycle, while also identifying key deficiencies in current LCA methodology for addressing plastic pollution.
Strategies for efficient management of microplastics to achieve life cycle assessment and circular economy
This review examines strategies for managing microplastic waste through a circular economy and life cycle assessment (LCA) lens, arguing that current recycling practices and waste disposal methods are inadequate given the sheer volume of plastics entering ecosystems. The authors propose a conceptual framework integrating LCA principles into microplastic management to better quantify ecological risks and guide more sustainable plastic use policies.
System innovation and life cycle thinking in packaging value chain: the circularity of plastics.
This paper examines the role of circular economy principles in reducing plastic packaging waste, noting that despite existing recycling systems, plastics remain pervasive environmental contaminants. The authors argue that redesigning packaging systems for recyclability and reducing over-packaging are essential steps to address microplastic pollution at its source.
Identifying the Drivers of Circular Food Packaging: A Comprehensive Review for the Current State of the Food Supply Chain to Be Sustainable and Circular
This review identified the key drivers of circular food packaging adoption, examining how circular economy principles applied to packaging can address sustainability challenges related to food safety, shelf life, waste reduction, and environmental impact.
Smart Material Choice: The Importance of Circular Design Strategy Applications for Bio-Based Food Packaging Preproduction and End-of-Life Life Cycle Stages
This review examined circular design strategies for bio-based food packaging materials, finding that integrating lifecycle thinking into material selection and packaging design significantly reduces environmental impact, and that bio-based plastics can contribute to a circular economy if end-of-life infrastructure supports proper composting or recycling.
Maximizing Environmental Impact Savings Potential through Innovative Biorefinery Alternatives: An Application of the TM-LCA Framework for Regional Scale Impact Assessment
This study evaluated the environmental savings potential of innovative biorefinery approaches for converting agricultural and organic waste into valuable products. It is a life cycle assessment paper on industrial ecology with no direct relevance to microplastics.
Life-cycle Assessment of Microplastics in the Environment
This chapter applied life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to examine the full environmental impact of microplastics, from production through environmental release, covering ecological and human health impacts, methodological challenges of applying LCA to persistent pollutants, and knowledge gaps for future research.
An Integrated Analysis of Plastic Packaging Value Chain: Identifying Barriers and Enablers for a Circular Economy
Researchers analyzed the full plastic packaging value chain to identify barriers and enablers for transitioning to a circular economy, tracing the evolution of circular economy concepts and quantifying the environmental impacts associated with exponential plastic waste growth. The study provides an integrated framework mapping opportunities for intervention across production, use, collection, and recycling stages.
Life Cycle Assessment in a Nutshell—Best Practices and Status Quo for the Plastic Sector
This paper reviewed life cycle assessment (LCA) best practices as applied to the plastics sector, aiming to make LCA methodology more accessible to non-experts and improve environmental decision-making across the plastic value chain.
Author comment: The evolution of life cycle assessment in the food and beverage industry: A review — R1/PR5
This review analyzed how life cycle assessment (LCA) has been applied to single-use plastic food and beverage products from 2000 to 2022. The paper identifies gaps in evaluating the full environmental impact of plastic packaging. The findings support better-informed policies on plastic use and alternatives in the food industry.
A critical review on plastic waste life cycle assessment and management: Challenges, research gaps, and future perspectives
This review examines the full environmental impact of plastics from production through disposal, noting that life cycle assessments often produce unexpected results when comparing bio-based and petroleum-based plastics. A major gap exists because microplastic pollution is not yet factored into these environmental assessments, despite growing evidence of its ecological harm.
Recommendations for life-cycle assessment of recyclable plastics in a circular economy
This paper examines how life-cycle assessments of plastic recycling are often conducted inconsistently, leading to misleading conclusions about the environmental benefits of recycling. The authors recommend measuring impacts based on the amount of useful recycled product rather than waste processed, and expanding analysis beyond greenhouse gases to include plastic waste leaking into the environment. Better assessment methods could lead to more effective policies for reducing the plastic waste that ultimately becomes microplastic pollution.
Plastic litter in life cycle assessment: Advances of the marine impacts in life cycle assessment international taskforce and application to case studies
This review examined advances in incorporating marine plastic litter impacts into life cycle assessment, addressing the long-standing gap in LCA methodology for accounting for plastic pollution as an environmental impact category. Recent progress by the MarILCA research group was highlighted as bringing LCA closer to properly reflecting biodiversity and ecosystem impacts from plastic waste.
Microplastics in Aquatic and Food Ecosystems: Remediation Coupled with Circular Economy Solutions to Create Resource from Waste
This review covers the sources, distribution, and health implications of microplastics in water and food systems, along with current and emerging methods for removing them. Researchers highlight that microplastics enter human food chains through seafood, drinking water, and food packaging, and that existing removal technologies each have limitations. The study emphasizes the need for circular economy approaches that prevent plastic waste from entering ecosystems in the first place.
Modern biodegradable materials with accelerated degradation for dairy and food products (subject review)
This review examines biodegradable polymer packaging materials as alternatives to petroleum-based plastics for dairy and food applications, evaluating end-of-life options within a circular economy framework. The authors assess approaches including recycling, replacement of synthetic bases with organic and inorganic fillers, and development of fully biodegradable materials capable of complete environmental degradation.
Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Advanced Agricultural Waste echnologies and Agricultural Territories
This doctoral thesis assessed the environmental sustainability of advanced agricultural waste treatment technologies using life cycle assessment, examining whether biotechnology-based circular economy alternatives are genuinely more sustainable than conventional approaches. It is a broader sustainability research study not focused specifically on microplastics.
A comprehensive review of food waste valorization for the sustainable management of global food waste
This review examines methods for turning food waste into valuable products as part of sustainable waste management. While not directly about microplastics, the topic is relevant because food waste and plastic waste are often mixed together in waste streams, and food packaging is a major source of microplastic contamination. Better food waste management could help reduce the spread of microplastics that often accompany food waste into the environment.
How accurate is plastic end-of-life modeling in LCA? Investigating the main assumptions and deviations for the end-of-life management of plastic packaging
Researchers reviewed 49 life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on plastic packaging disposal and found that most models oversimplify real-world recycling processes and ignore key factors like plastic additives and microplastic generation. These gaps mean current environmental impact estimates for plastic disposal may significantly understate the true ecological costs.
How Important is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Study of Plastic Waste? Use of Bibliometric Analysis to Reveal Research Positions and Future Directions
This paper is not about microplastics — it presents a bibliometric analysis of life cycle assessment (LCA) research on plastic waste from 2013 to 2022, mapping publication trends, leading countries, and key research themes.
Circularity and greenhouse gas assessment of the plastic packaging and beverage carton system in the Netherlands until 2050 for a business as usual and a circular scenario
Researchers used the TNO CITS model to assess circularity and greenhouse gas emissions of the Dutch plastic packaging and beverage carton system through 2050 under business-as-usual and circular economy scenarios. The analysis covers seven packaging types and qualitatively addresses microplastics and the potential role of bio-based plastics in the transition.
The Production of High-Added-Value Bioproducts from Non-Conventional Biomasses: An Overview
This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it is a broad review of biomass valorisation from food-processing residues for producing bioproducts, focused on circular economy applications in the food and materials sectors.