MATERIAL FLOW ANALYSIS E CARBON FOOTPRINT. UN APPROCCIO COMBINATO VERSO L’ECONOMIA CIRCOLARE DEL SETTORE DELL’ACQUA CONFEZIONATA

Abstract

Waste management policy goal is the circular use of resources, so the interest is to place on the market goods and materials produced and able to be recycled and reused over time. The European Union’s measures about the Circular Economy and Ecodesign are focused on the need to modify current production and consumption patterns, intervening along the lifecycle of goods, extending their useful life and increasing the recycle and reuse when they come to the end of life. Following the End of Life’s (EOL) approach the purpose of this research is to analyze bottled water industry, focusing on the circulation of primary packaging (PET bottles and HDPE caps) and to achieve this goal are proposed two methods: the Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and the Carbon Footprint (CF). MFA is used to determine the total inputs (natural and energy resources consumption) and total outputs (waste products) of PET and HDPE production, while CF is used to evaluate the environmental impacts in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The knowledge of the materials flow, in terms of raw materials and energy resources used, as well as greenhouse gas emissions mainly associated to the quantity of goods not recycled, could make waste management system more efficient, allowing the transition from a linear economy model to a model of circular economy. Over the last twenty-five years, the annual national consumption of bottled water in Italy shows an increasing trend, reaching 12 billion L (2015), of which 9 billion L bottled in the plastic packaging and the remainder (25%) bottled in glass and cardboard. The estimates indicate that, in Italy, the packaging of bottled water sector requires much material inputs (higher material 98,000-187,000 t of PET, 6,500-14,700 t of HDPE) and energy inputs (9,000-21,000 TJ). With regard to the total amount of 105,000-201,000 t of resins used, approximately 42,000-80,000 t are recycled, 47,000-90,000 t are allocated to energy recovery and 15,000-30,000 t are disposed in landfills. The two methodologies proposed (MFA and CF) could provide valuable results for a better determination of the materials and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the reference market, to optimize also the eco-design of the packaging and to provide more complete information for a more efficient waste management to the decision makers.