Life Cycle Assessment

The LCA considered 30 different packaging materials in 10 market sectors. The impact assessment used the CML method to measure the bag-in-box systems against their alternatives in 10 impact categories including:

• Abiotic depletion
• Acidification
• Eutrophication
• Global warming potential
• Ozone layer depletion
• Human toxicity
• Fresh water aquatic ecotoxicty
• Marine aquatic ecotoxicity
• Terrestrial ecotoxicity
• Photochemical oxidation

Global warming potential (GWP) or carbon footprinting is a measure of how much of a given mass of a green house gas (for example, CO2, methane, nitrous oxide) is estimated to contribute to global warming.

How is it measured? Global warming potential is measured in terms of CO2 equivalents. GWP is an internationally accepted environmental indicator which is used as a means of measuring the global impact on the environment.