Karbonsuzlaşmaya geçiş ve kirliliğin önlenmesi ı̇lkeleri doğrultusunda gazlı içecek ambalajları için plastik (PET) ve cam şişeler ve alüminyum tenekelerin karşılaştırmalı yaşam döngüsü değerlendirmesi

Packaging materials have numerous applications in our daily lives and in industry. One of them is soft drink packaging products. Both in Turkey (locally) and the EU, packaging-related regulations, directives, and policies have been updated in accordance with circular economy and the EU Green Deal principles. Although LCA is associated with the cradle-to-grave approach, when considering this concept under the circular economy approach, the cradle-to-cradle approach can also be adopted. Therefore, Sustainable Consumption and Production (SDG 12) is a point that needs to be related to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The primary objective of this study is to assess the environmental outcomes associated with decarbonization, reuse, recycling, and recycled content targets by conducting a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) across various scenarios for soft drink packaging of PET, glass, and aluminum. During scenario development, relatable actions were taken together with the EU Green Deal, circular economy, and Paris Agreement targets. Initially, only for the pre-consumer stage, 2020 was set as the baseline scenario, i.e., for the production of the selected materials, less renewable energy and no recycled content were considered. With the increasing share of renewable electricity, 2035 and 2053 were targeted to improve both the pre-consumer stage by applying electrified systems and recycled content, and the post-consumer stage by supporting reuse and recycling. In the context of the selected impact categories, the thesis concluded that for the pre-consumer stage of each product, the use of recycled content, electrified processes and renewable electricity have favorable aspects under proper conditions. Attention must be paid to the necessary efficiency and redesign points in renewable electricity generation and electrification process. In the post-consumer stage, the reuse process (especially for glass) can be promoted in terms of primary resource savings and energy efficiency by improving water consumption in the washing (also applied in recycling) processes. While the reuse stage for PET sounds more environmentally friendly but needs to be considered in the context of health concerns and product durability during consumption, but as well as the aluminum, recycling for PET must be supported compared to their remanufacturing.