Evaluation of the life cycle of packaging used in the cosmetic industry

One of the common application areas of thermoplastics is the cosmetics industry, where they are particularly preferred for product packaging. Packaging production processes have a significant impact on environmental sustainability due to their high energy consumption. In this study, a cradle-to-grave life cycle analysis of a shampoo bottle was conducted in accordance with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards to examine its effects on the environment and human health. Within the scope of Scope 2 and Scope 3, the system boundaries included the production and transportation of raw materials and auxiliary materials, the energy used, the production process (including the bottle mold but excluding the cap mold), recycling, transportation of bottles to customers, transportation and disposal of waste, and end-of-life disposal of the products. To assess the environmental impacts of a single shampoo bottle, the IDEMAT2025 dataset was used to analyze the carbon footprint, ecological cost, cumulative energy demand, and impact categories according to the ReCiPe 2016 and TRACI 2.2 methods. The carbon footprint of one shampoo bottle was determined to be 15,13 kg CO₂ eq., and its ecological cost was calculated as €3,8. The environmental footprint of the shampoo bottle was found to be 9,7 × 10⁻⁴ Pt. According to the ReCiPe 2016 method, it was determined that fossil fuel-based energy consumption contributed to climate change, adversely affecting human health, and that fine particulate matter formation was significant. Based on the TRACI 2.2 method, when the chemical environmental impacts were analyzed, the ecotoxicity impact was found to be 23,60 CTUe, the ozone depletion potential was 23,23 CFC-11 eq., the global warming potential was 3,24 kg CO₂ eq., and fossil fuel consumption was 6,14 MJ.