Life Cycle Assessment of Environmental Impacts of Al-PE-Pa Laminated Packaging and Waste Treatments

Life cycle assessment(LCA) was used to examine the environmental impacts over the life cycle of Al-PE-Pa laminated packaging,and to compare the environmental impacts from different laminated package waste treatments.The data of mass and energy fluxes and the environmental emissions were obtained from the literature and from site investigations.The results showed that the environmental impact from the raw material supply period was the highest,over 75%,of the total environmental impacts over the life cycle.The environmental impacts mainly come from fossil fuel consumption,land occupation and respiratory effects damage from inorganic substances.The contributions from mineral resource consumption,climate change,acidification/eutrophication and ecotoxicity were less.The environmental impacts from laminated package waste disposal were highest in landfill treatment followed by incineration and recycling.Landfill and incineration could account for an additional environmental impact of 11% and 7%,respectively,compared to that before the laminated packaging enters waste stream.In contrast,recycling could reduce 23% of the environmental impact,and the reduction could be even more significant if the aluminum and plastic were recycled separately.