Life Cycle Assessment of Fresh-Cut Salad Packaging: Evaluating Conventional vs. Bio-Based Films Under Current Waste Management Scenarios

This study presents a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of packaging for 1000 kg of fresh-cut salad using conventional polypropylene (PP) and bio-based INZEA® FH05 bags. Using the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology, the analysis revealed weighted scores of 152 ± 14 mPt for PP and 158 ± 14 mPt for the bioplastic. To distinguish between statistical significance and practical relevance, a Monte Carlo Analysis (MCA) was performed. Statistical significance was defined by the probability P(PP ≥ INZEA®), representing the frequency of iterations where the PP impact was greater than or equal to the bioplastic, while practical relevance was assessed by the percentage difference (Δ) between mean values. The MCA demonstrates that the PP system is the environmentally preferable option in 91.5% of the simulated iterations; correspondingly, there is only an 8.5% probability (P) that PP results in a higher impact than the bioplastic. Despite this high frequency of preference, the overall tangible benefit remains modest, with a 4.1% reduction (Δ) in the total PEF score for PP. At the characterization level, bioplastic films showed a robust advantage in fossil resource depletion (P = 96.2%; Δ = +4.7% for PP); however, this was offset by significantly higher impacts in categories such as Acidification (P = 0%; Δ = −11.0%) and Freshwater Ecotoxicity (P = 0%; Δ = −29.7%). Conversely, the Climate Change category showed environmental parity with no tangible benefit (Δ = −0.5%) and a lack of statistical significance (P = 43%). These findings indicate that the theoretical benefits of compostability are currently hindered by industrial infrastructural deficiencies. Under current scenarios, PP maintains a competitive environmental profile, highlighting that a successful transition to bioplastics requires both material innovation and systemic improvements in waste management infrastructure.