Life Cycle Carbon Emissions and Emission Reduction Measures for Bottled Water

Abstract

Bottled water is a widely consumed product around the world, but its potential impact on the environment can be caused by its packaging materials, production processes, transportation and end-of-life management. This review is based on several LCA studies in recent years and discussed life cycle carbon emissions and emission reduction measures for bottled water. The paper first summarises the LCA accounting framework for bottled water, including functional units, system boundaries, life cycle inventory and carbon footprint assessment. The review then identifies major carbon emission hotspots and discusses possible reduction measures and their trade-offs. Existing studies presented that PET resin production, bottle manufacturing, packaging-related inputs, electricity use, transportation and post-consumer treatment are likely to be the main sources of the carbon footprint from bottled water. While packaging optimisation and lightweighting can reduce material demand, it is also important to ensure the quality of product protection and transport performance. Recycled PET and bottle-to-bottle recycling can lower the demand on virgin PET, although the overall performance is determined by collection quality, sorting efficiency and food-grade recycling capacity. Transportation optimisation, renewable energy use and alternative packaging materials may also play an important role in emissions mitigation, but their actual results vary under different circumstances.