Review on life cycle analysis (LCA) studies of reusable plastic crates for fruit and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables require proper packaging to ensure safe transports from farm to shops and retailers. Poor packaging may result in food losses or waste by reduced shelf life. The production and use of the packaging material generates GHG emissions and so does transports and disposal of packagin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Sustainable Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19397038.2025.2457345 |
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| author | Si Gao Juanjuan Yao Xuchen Zhao Pinqiao Ren Mathias Gustavsson Chunfei Wu |
| author_facet | Si Gao Juanjuan Yao Xuchen Zhao Pinqiao Ren Mathias Gustavsson Chunfei Wu |
| author_sort | Si Gao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fruits and vegetables require proper packaging to ensure safe transports from farm to shops and retailers. Poor packaging may result in food losses or waste by reduced shelf life. The production and use of the packaging material generates GHG emissions and so does transports and disposal of packaging. The use of reusable plastic crates (RPC), instead of disposable boxes, was found to be a feasible solution in reducing waste and environmental impacts throughout the lifecycle of secondary and tertiary packaging. The aim of this study is to provide a review of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of RPC systems for fruits and vegetables under different scenarios. The paper focuses LCA studies of RPC systems for fruits and vegetables from cradle to grave. It aims to review the key designs of the LCA and identify the system boundary, functional unit and main findings. The review presents global warming potential (GWP) results associated with the use of reusable plastic crates, which were observed to be 65–628 g CO2 eq. per cycle of crate during service life. Meanwhile, cross-cutting issues are discussed which can reduce food losses as part of transportation, providing additional benefits for this system as compared to conventional crate solutions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e925fe9956bb4f9482c21d941744a5f7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1939-7038 1939-7046 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Sustainable Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-e925fe9956bb4f9482c21d941744a5f72025-01-27T08:16:05ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Sustainable Engineering1939-70381939-70462025-12-0118110.1080/19397038.2025.2457345Review on life cycle analysis (LCA) studies of reusable plastic crates for fruit and vegetablesSi Gao0Juanjuan Yao1Xuchen Zhao2Pinqiao Ren3Mathias Gustavsson4Chunfei Wu5Business development and International business, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Gothenber, SwedenBusiness development and International business, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Gothenber, SwedenBusiness development and International business, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Gothenber, SwedenBusiness development and International business, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Gothenber, SwedenBusiness development and International business, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Gothenber, SwedenSchool of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland of UKFruits and vegetables require proper packaging to ensure safe transports from farm to shops and retailers. Poor packaging may result in food losses or waste by reduced shelf life. The production and use of the packaging material generates GHG emissions and so does transports and disposal of packaging. The use of reusable plastic crates (RPC), instead of disposable boxes, was found to be a feasible solution in reducing waste and environmental impacts throughout the lifecycle of secondary and tertiary packaging. The aim of this study is to provide a review of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of RPC systems for fruits and vegetables under different scenarios. The paper focuses LCA studies of RPC systems for fruits and vegetables from cradle to grave. It aims to review the key designs of the LCA and identify the system boundary, functional unit and main findings. The review presents global warming potential (GWP) results associated with the use of reusable plastic crates, which were observed to be 65–628 g CO2 eq. per cycle of crate during service life. Meanwhile, cross-cutting issues are discussed which can reduce food losses as part of transportation, providing additional benefits for this system as compared to conventional crate solutions.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19397038.2025.2457345Reusable plastic crate (RPC)life cycle assessment (LCA)fruit and vegetablepackagingfood waste |
| spellingShingle | Si Gao Juanjuan Yao Xuchen Zhao Pinqiao Ren Mathias Gustavsson Chunfei Wu Review on life cycle analysis (LCA) studies of reusable plastic crates for fruit and vegetables International Journal of Sustainable Engineering Reusable plastic crate (RPC) life cycle assessment (LCA) fruit and vegetable packaging food waste |
| title | Review on life cycle analysis (LCA) studies of reusable plastic crates for fruit and vegetables |
| title_full | Review on life cycle analysis (LCA) studies of reusable plastic crates for fruit and vegetables |
| title_fullStr | Review on life cycle analysis (LCA) studies of reusable plastic crates for fruit and vegetables |
| title_full_unstemmed | Review on life cycle analysis (LCA) studies of reusable plastic crates for fruit and vegetables |
| title_short | Review on life cycle analysis (LCA) studies of reusable plastic crates for fruit and vegetables |
| title_sort | review on life cycle analysis lca studies of reusable plastic crates for fruit and vegetables |
| topic | Reusable plastic crate (RPC) life cycle assessment (LCA) fruit and vegetable packaging food waste |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19397038.2025.2457345 |
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