Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment of Thermoplastic Polymers for Packaging: A Review on Fundamental Principles and Applications

This article presents recent developments in the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) for evaluating the sustainability of thermoplastics, including multilayer plastics packaging and comparisons with other packaging materials. Due to increasing environmental awareness, thermoplastics, despite their superior properties, are being increasingly substituted with other materials due to their fossil-based origin and non-biodegradability. While the use of biodegradable and bio-based thermoplastics contributes to overcoming these limitations, there are still challenges associated with the environmental effects of the cultivation phase of agricultural resources and the infrastructure and costs required for composting. Therefore, a quantitative evaluation of the environmental performance of various thermoplastics and their packaging applications over their complete life cycle compared with other conventional materials like paper and glass, using LCA, is imperative for understanding the role of thermoplastics in sustainable development. LCA is also vital for selecting the material, process, and waste management technique best suited for sustainability without compromising the product quality. In summary, the fundamental knowledge of LCA and critical assessment of key literature on LCA of thermoplastic materials and their packaging applications, will provide direction for future advances in the field of sustainable polymeric materials and the socio-economic aspects of sustainability.