Reduction of CO2 emissions by improved management of material and product use:: the case of transport packaging

About 40% of the global primary energy use and emission of CO2 is related to the production of materials. In this study we investigate the potential and cost-effectiveness of CO2 emission reduction by means of improved management of material use for transport packaging in Western Europe. Measures for improved use of transport packaging material are identified and evaluated. A supply curve for CO2-emission reduction is presented based on data about the use of transport packaging in 1995. We show that technically it seems possible to reduce the CO2 emissions related to the production and use of transport packaging in 1995 by 40% when new packaging technology is implemented that is expected to become available between 1995 and 2010. In this reduction figure, improvement of energy efficiency in material production processes and changes in packaging demand are not taken into account. Most evaluated measures can be implemented cost-effectively, when taking life-cycle costs into account. This would result in a CO2 emission reduction of 34%. Evaluation of the measures shows that a 12% reduction of CO2 emissions related to transport packaging is possible by using lighter packages. Material substitution can lead to a reduction also of 12%. From a CO2 emission reduction point of view, the most promising improvements are large changes in the packaging system like substitution of single use packaging by re-usable packaging. This may lead to a 16% reduction in CO2 emissions. However, large-scale introduction of this option may be hindered by the complexity of implementation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.