Environmental assessment of reusable plastic packaging systems: a systematic review of LCA research across industrial sectors

This paper presents a systematic review of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies evaluating the environmental performance of reusable plastic packaging compared with single-use alternatives. A structured search in Web of Science and Scopus identified 245 publications from 2000 to 2025, of which 55 met relevance, quality, and transparency criteria. These were grouped into original LCA studies and LCA review papers to support an unbiased assessment, and then analyzed to identify key application areas, methodological trends, and factors influencing environmental outcomes. The review shows that polypropylene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are the most commonly assessed polymers in reusable systems. Although reusable packaging has been studied across several sectors, notable gaps persist in cosmetics, beverages, and delivery applications. In contrast, studies on food and fresh produce generally report environmental benefits when sufficient reuse cycles are applied. However, the comparability of existing findings is constrained by methodological inconsistencies, including narrow selections of impact categories, inconsistent end-of-life (EOL) modelling methodology, and omission of important life cycle stages such as backhaul transport and secondary packaging. Two parameters emerge as central to determining the environmental performance of reusable packaging systems: the number of reuse cycles and the configuration of reconditioning activities, including washing, refilling, and return logistics. Reported reuse cycle assumptions vary widely across studies, highlighting the need for more realistic and application-specific definitions. Overall, the review underscores the potential environmental benefits of reusable plastic packaging while emphasizing the need for more consistent methodological choices to support reliable and comparable LCA outcomes.

Subjects

Environmental assessment

LCA

Literature review

Plastic packaging

Reusable plastic packaging

DDC Class

658.5: Of Production

Lizenz

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Publication version

publishedVersion

Name

1-s2.0-S2667378926000398-main.pdf

Type

Main Article

Size

7.28 MB

Format

Adobe PDF

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Environmental assessment of reusable plastic packaging systems: a systematic review of LCA research across industrial sectors