The amount of municipal waste related to food packaging systems, with respect to the whole mass of municipal waste, is ever
increasing. For this reason, a selection of different packaging systems has to be made from the start of production not only to favour
food conservation, but also to reduce packaging mass and increase the use of recyclables.
This paper presents a comparison between impacts associated with alternative packaging systems on the supply of coffee, with the
aim of showing how their values change depending on the materials and processes commonly in use. To compare impacts, Life Cycle
Assessment methodology was considered. This approach, which is widespread use in many different production sectors, is defined in
detail in the ISO 1404· norm.
