About this article
What are the life cycle stages involved in packaging, and why are they important? This article explores the stages involved in producing, using and disposing packaging.
05 Jan 2024
11 min
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How do you choose food packaging that makes sense for sustainability?
It can be difficult to know where to start. Is it the material, recyclability, or something else that determines the sustainability of packaging?
To understand a product’s total environmental footprint – including its packaging carbon footprint – you need to look at the entire life cycle of packaging. In this article we answer:
1. What is the life cycle of packaging?
3. The stages in the life of packaging
5. Why the life cycle of packaging matters
What is the life cycle of packaging?
The life of packaging starts long before it sits on the shelf and continues after you’ve disposed of it. It begins with the extraction of resources from the Earth, followed by processing these materials into a usable form.
Next, the packaging is manufactured into the correct format, often filled with a product, and distributed for sale. Once used by consumers, it enters the final stage: disposal. At this point, packaging may be recycled, composted, incinerated, or sent to landfills.
Each stage contributes differently to the overall packaging environmental impact, so it’s essential to consider them all when assessing sustainability. This is done through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – sometimes also referred to as Life Cycle Analysis .
What is a life cycle assessment (LCA)?
A life cycle assessment (LCA) is the primary method used to measure the environmental footprint of packaging and many other products. It considers everything from resource extraction to final disposal, quantifying the carbon emissions and other impacts at each stage.
While LCAs can be used to assess the full life cycle of a product, in practice they often cover only certain stages. You might come across terms like cradle to gate or cradle to cradle, which indicate how far the analysis goes.
LCA practitioners collect and analyse data across the stages of the life of packaging – each of these stages carrying its own environmental cost. When assessed together through an LCA, they offer a good picture of how sustainable a packaging item truly is. Although LCAs can be time-consuming and costly research projects, they provide extremely valuable insight into which manufacturing methods and packaging formats are the most sustainable in practice.
The stages in the life cycle of packaging
Practitioners executing LCA studies typically collect and analyse data from the following stages:
Extraction of resources
All packaging starts with raw materials: oil for plastic, trees for paper, or ore for aluminium. These extraction processes are energy-intensive and often carbon-heavy, significantly affecting the packaging carbon footprint from the start.
Material processing
Raw materials must be refined or chemically processed before they become usable packaging materials. This step consumes a large amount of energy and further adds to the packaging environmental impact.
Manufacturing of packaging
Materials are moulded or cut into specific packaging formats. The main consumable product is often added to the pack at this stage.
Distribution and transport
Transporting packaging by road, sea, or land adds additional emissions.
Use by consumers
How packaging is used, stored, or reused also matters. At Verive, we believe there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The most future-proof solution depends on your specific context: how the packaging is handled, how often it’s reused, and what your sustainability goals are.
As a provider of both disposable and reusable systems, we conducted a Life Cycle Assessment to determine when a reusable cup or container has a lower carbon footprint than its single-use counterpart. You can explore the full results of that comparison here.
These findings can help guide your choices, especially when considering return rates and washing processes. If you need more tailored insights, we’re always happy to help.
End-of-life processing
Recycling, composting, or disposal methods (like landfill or incineration) all carry different environmental costs. Designing packaging for more efficient end-of-life outcomes helps keep valuable resources in circulation and lower overall carbon footprint.
Optimising energy and materials are key to more sustainable packaging
Packaging should do its job well – protecting products – without using more energy or material than necessary. After all, these materials come from a limited supply of resources the planet provides. The less we use, the further we can stretch them.
Ask yourself: How can I reduce the amount of energy and material needed to make this packaging? And how can I ensure that the resources I do use are not being depleted—but renewed?
The most sustainable packaging:
- Ensures the product stays protected
- Uses minimal raw materials and energy
- Is designed for reuse or recycling
- Creates minimal pollution
Which brings us to the next big question: What happens when packaging reaches the end of its life cycle – and becomes waste?
End-of-life: The waste hierarchy
It’s important that packaging waste is managed carefully. The is a useful tool to understand the best options for handling packaging after use:
1. Prevention – Avoid unnecessary materials
2. Reuse – Extend packaging lifespan
3. Recycle – Reprocess materials for new use
4. Recovery – Use waste for energy
5. Disposal – Landfill or incineration (least preferred)
The EU’s approach to waste management is based on this inverted pyramid, which ranks the priority of waste management options.
The first priority is to prevent unnecessary material use, reducing waste before it’s created. Prevention is always the best outcome. Next, look for ways to reuse packaging to extend its life. If reuse isn’t possible, the final step is to recycle materials wherever you can. Broadly speaking, the higher up the hierarchy, the more sustainable the practices are.
The circular economy helps us rethink packaging
The is a concept that aims to keep materials in use for as long as possible, eliminating waste by design. It’s an improvement over our current ‘linear’ economy, which relies on a “take-make-dispose”. While the old model relies on extracting resources to be used just once, and then disposed of, circular economies promote reusing, refurbishing, and recycling packaging. The ideal is to design waste out of the system.
An example in packaging is a reuse model, where packaging can be used multiple times by being collected, washed and reused. This complex change is not straightforward to implement – but the circular economy concept invites to a new way of thinking.
It provides another question for us to ask when thinking about sustainability: how can I make my business practices more circular? By shifting to more circular systems, businesses can make measurable reductions in their packaging’s environmental impact.
One example of this approach in action? NS, the largest railway transport provider in the Netherlands, is taking big steps toward more sustainable packaging at their stations. From prioritising mono-materials to reducing plastic and promoting a bring-your-own culture, their strategy reflects a forward-thinking, circular mindset.
Conclusion: Why does the packaging life cycle matter?
Understanding the life cycle of packaging provides a solid framework to help us identify where real environmental impact happens – and how to reduce it.
Whether you’re choosing materials, designing new formats, or reviewing suppliers, packaging sustainability factors should guide every decision. There’s certainly a lot to take in when it comes to understanding sustainability and the life cycle of packaging.
Need help evaluating your packaging options? Our team of specialists can help you make smarter, lower-impact choices. Contact us today.
