Colloquia

Summary

Homemade Meals is a business in the express food delivery (EFD) sector, facilitating home cooks to distribute their food. Homemade Meals requires a sustainable packaging lifecycle, aligning with their brand values and food products. The research project is done in their service.

Sustainability in packaging product lifecycle was determined to be consisting of three parameters; functionality, environmental sustainability and cost. The according performance and balance between all three parameters should result in a sustainable product lifecycle (PLC).

A framework combines the assessment of each parameter into a workable approach for businesses in the EFD industry, similar to Homemade Meals, for the development of a sustainable packaging lifecycle. The framework consists of separate scoring methods on all three parameters. The functionality scoring method is based on the performance of a range of relevant functional attributes, in the field of EFD packaging. The sustainability parameter was scored by an LCA tool, which quantifies the environmental impacts of a products lifecycle. Cost was scored by assessing the purchasing price, in relation to the functionality and sustainability performance.

The framework was tested in a case study, where several packaging products found in common wholesale retailers were compared. The outcome shows that a Kraft paperboard container and accompanying PLC provide the best performance and balance between the three parameters of sustainability. The outcomes also advocate for reusable packaging options.