Volume efficiency as an environmental strength of moulded pulp protective packaging Renee Wever*, Casper Boks, Prabhu Kandachar, Han Brezet School of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Landbergstraat 15, 2628 CE Delft, NL * Corresponding Author, r.wever@io.tudelft.nl, +31 15 2782738 Abstract In recent years moulded pulp has emerged as an environmentally friendly material for protective packaging for consumer electronics (CE). Its green image is based on material recycling, both in the production and the end- of-life phase. Until now the ‘use phase’ of protective packaging (the distribution of the packed product) has not been addressed in environmental statements. As this paper shows, this phase has a major impact in the life cycle. 1 Introduction Over the last decades moulded pulp has emerged as a serious competitor in the protective packaging mar- ket. Since WWII expended polystyrene (EPS) has been most widely used as a protective packaging ma- terial for durable consumer goods. From the mid- eighties on, environmental concerns with the public and governments grew. EPS is based on non- renewable materials and there was no recycling sys- tem for post-consumer EPS in most countries (in many countries there still isn’t). Among others several paper-based materials emerged as alternatives, such as moulded pulp, Beeboard ® and several corrugated de- signs. In eco-design of CE products packaging gets a serious amount of attention. Philips Consumer Electronics for instance has made distribution and packaging one of its five focal areas in eco-design [1]. From a purely scientific point of view distribution and packaging are not major contributors to the total environmental im- pact of CE products. The major factor is the energy consumption during the use phase of the product, which accounts for up to 80% of the environmental impact. Yet environmental improvement of protective packaging usually also means reduction of the costs. Money saved on packaging and distribution ends up directly with the manufacturer. Thus packaging im- provement constitutes the most important one of a limited number of potential win-win opportunities for original equipment manufacturers. In eco-design of packaging, the environmental focus usually is on material recycling. The major advantage of paper-based packaging is considered to be its good recycling qualities. It is, usually to a large extent, made from recycled material and can in turn be recy- cled very easily. In countries with a good post- consumer waste paper collection system, such as the Netherlands, this actually happens, which cannot be said for all materials that can be easily recycled in theory (such as EPS). Large general surveys on consumer packaging per- ception show a serious focus on recycle aspects [2]. This focus on material recycling is also shown by en- vironmental legislation concerning packaging. The fees for the Grüne Punkt system in Germany are en- tirely based on the cost of material recycling. 2 Life Cycle Assessments LCAs on protective packaging published so far also strongly focus on production and end-of-life [e.g. 3]. Proper calculation of the environmental impact should include all stages of the life cycle. Hence the ‘use phase’ of the packaging has to be investigated, this is the transport of the packed product from the factory to the customer. This is a new approach for packaging eco-design, focusing more on the entire distribution chain, instead of just material production. There are several ways in which the environmental impact of the distribution phase can be allocated to the packed product and the packaging, for instance based on weight, volume, or economic value. A closer examination of the modes of transportation can reveal the influence of the packaging on the environmental impact caused by distribution. This way the proper way of allocating can be determined. Transportation of CE products is mostly done in con- tainers by ship and by truck. A large percentage of the transported volume is caused by cushioning material (approximately half, depending on the size and fragil- ity of the packed product). The most widely used sea container measures 40 feet, and has a content of approximately 60.000 litres. The maximum payload is approximately 27.000 kg.