Abstract |
A life cycle inventory (LCI) quantifies the energy use and environmental emissions associated with the life cycle of specific products. This study examines the environmental profiles of various packaging options used to ship mail-order soft goods to residential customers. Soft goods include clothing (e.g., sweaters), linens, and the like. The two main types of packaging considered in the analysis are corrugated boxes with various types of dunnage, and shipping bags. Dunnage materials included in this study are inflated air packets, expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam loose fill, cornstarch foam loose fill, molded pulp loose fill, kraft paper, newsprint, and shredded postconsumer office paper and corrugated. Shipping bags evaluated in this study include unpadded and padded bags made from several different paper grades and plastic resins. |