Fresh fruit and vegetables have become an indispensable part of the retail trade. The year-round availability of these products requires complex logistical processes, two different packaging systems are mainly used: Reusable plastic packaging and disposable cardboard packaging. The study was carried out to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions of both packaging systems in accordance with the requirements of the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards.

The main objective of the study was to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions of the reusable, collapsible plastic containers and the disposable cardboard containers and to subsequently compare them. To achieve the main objective, processes along the entire value chain of both packaging systems were considered, based on their actual transport performance in Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and France.