Life Cycle Assessments of Takeaway Food and Beverage Packaging: The Role of Consumer Behavior

Abstract

Consumer behavior can significantly influence the environmental impact of products. Takeaway food and beverage packaging can be assumed to be an example of this effect, as consumers directly affect its disposal or, in the case of reusable packaging, the reuse rate. While possible environmental impacts of takeaway food and beverage packaging are comprehensively discussed in available Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies, consumer behavior is not extensively considered. Thus, a literature review was used to analyze existing LCAs of takeaway food and beverage packaging regarding three aspects: (i) the extent to which consumers are considered in the use phase, (ii) the inclusion of littering, and (iii) the consideration of consumer behavior in the End-of-Life (EoL) phase. The analysis shows that none of the reviewed LCAs includes all reviewed aspects of consumer behavior, and that the depth of implementation varied significantly. We conclude that, currently, the topic is not adequately considered in available LCAs and future studies need to address it more widely. This is especially important for the comparison of single-use and reusable takeaway packaging, as consumer behavior significantly influences the environmental impact of both systems. Finally, we argue why a method that includes littering on takeaway packaging needs to be developed.