According to a life cycle assessment carried out by c7-consult, beverage cartons for chilled milk are more climate-friendly than disposable and reusable glass bottles.
People who want to think about the environment when buying chilled milk continue to buy milk in cartons with a clear conscience. This is the conclusion of the study „Life cycle assessment of milk packaging“ which the Institute c7-consult on behalf of Getränkekarton Austria has carried out. It compared the disposable and reusable glass bottles, PET bottles and composite cartons for chilled milk available in Austria.
In the final report of the study Roland Fehringer, expert in the life cycle assessment of beverage packaging points out that „from an ecological point of view, the composite beverage carton is one of the most climate-friendly packaging solutions.“ As part of the life cycle assessment, the entire The packaging journey from raw material extraction to transport and recycling analysed.
In all impact categories According to the study, the beverage carton for chilled milk has significantly better values than the other containers available in Austria. In the climate change category - the environmental impact with the highest priority - the beverage carton in Austria achieves a ecological footprint of 88g CO2 equivalents per packaging (1 litre), well ahead of the non-returnable glass bottle (336g), returnable glass bottle (115g) and non-returnable PET bottle (117g).
Renewable raw material
The use of the renewable raw material wood in cartonboard production brings the decisive plus points here, because renewable raw materials take up less energy during their growth phase. CO2 from the atmosphere. In contrast, fossil raw materials release CO2 into the atmosphere during their utilisation.
„We have already been part of a functioning circular economy for a long time,“ says Georg Matyk from Getränkekarton Austria.
Milk packaging made of cardboard has clear advantages: They protect the product from light and oxygen. They are lightweight, easy to stack and ideal for transport and storage. After use, beverage cartons are simply in the yellow bag or yellow bin collected and then sent to the sorting plants of the Austrian waste disposal companies for recycling. Recycling process in cartonboard mills provided separately.
Source: Beverage carton Austria
