Methods for Life Cycle Evaluation and Design of Packaging

Abstract

The current use of packaging provokes significant environmental impact. This impact comes from all stages of the packaging life cycle. In order to help in the design and development of packaging with minimal or no environmental impact, this article proposes a hybrid use that integrates descriptive and prescriptive methods. While descriptive methods aim at investigating and describing the environmental impact of packaging, prescriptive methods help to work on the planning and design of product packaging with environmental responsibility. Two descriptive assessment methods and three prescriptive design methods are proposed as viable options to be used in a hybrid approach to packaging design projects. Future work would inquire about case studies of the hybrid use proposed in real world or hypothetical packaging design projects.