Comparative life cycle assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis of coffee capsules made with conventional and innovative materials

Abstract

The following study arises from the need to replace aluminum and polypropylene, from fossil and non-renewable sources, with innovative materials to produce coffee capsules. The analysis was carried out using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). In the comparison were considered different materials: aluminum capsules, polypropylene, biocompostable plastic in an industrial environment (industrial compost) and biocompostable plastic in a domestic environment (home compost). The results indicate that, for current disposal, biocompostable plastic capsules, particularly those suitable for domestic compost, have lower environmental impacts. These results are also confirmed for the 10-year disposal scenario. Polypropylene capsules demonstrate greater environmental sustainability when considering a recovery rate of 100 % of the raw material. The MCDA analysis confirms that, at the moment, bioplastics represent the solution with the least environmental impact. However, this advantage is reduced if the capsules are made of aluminum and polypropylene using exclusively fully recycled raw material. Furthermore, it appears that the recycling of fossil materials is a viable alternative to bioplastics. It should be noted, however, that polypropylene can be recycled up to three times, unlike aluminum which can be recycled an indefinite number of times.