Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for compostable cold chain packaging

Challenge

TemperPack, a sustainable packaging manufacturer, set out to replace single-use plastic insulation, such as expanded polystyrene, with renewable alternatives for shipping perishable goods and temperature-sensitive products. Its plant-based foam insulation is designed to be compostable at home or in industrial facilities or dissolved in water and rinsed down the kitchen drain, while delivering thermal and cushioning performance equivalent to fossil-based insulation.

As customers increasingly asked for proof of environmental performance, the manufacturer needed credible, third-party verified data to back up its sustainability story. Its goals were to:

• Meet TemperPack’s requests for environmental impact data
• Support carbon-related certifications
• Develop an EPD for its core product and a moisture-resistant variation
• Build a scalable LCA foundation that could expand as its product line grows

Solution

Our team provided end-to-end LCA and EPD development services:

• ISO 14040/14044-compliant LCA of the core insulated packaging product, covering raw materials, manufacturing, delivery to customers, assembly, and end-of-life
• A supplemental LCA for a product variation that encapsulates the foam in plastic film for shipments with higher moisture exposure
• EPD writing and development following the International EPD System's packaging product category rules
• Management of third-party critical review and program operator verification through the International EPD System, as provided by EPD North America

The team (working as WAP, now SLR) worked closely with the manufacturer to collect and quality-assure primary data from its production facilities. That covered materials, energy, transportation, waste, and product packaging.

Green Cell Foam and Green Cell Plus’s bio-based foam is designed to biodegrade, so it can be composted or rinsed down the drain instead of being sent to a landfill or incinerator. Because the LCA revealed end-of-life as the largest driver of climate change impacts under typical disposal, WAP went beyond the standard scope. It ran sensitivity analyses to test how the product's intended disposal methods, composting and drain disposal, would change its environmental profile compared with a typical US mix of landfill, incineration, and recycling.

Impact

“EPD Standards and LCI databases typically don’t keep up with the pace of innovation, so we leaned on the team to help us find a path to verified data for our unconventional material. The ability to quantify the GWP of both end-of-life scenarios opened conversations about the impact of end-of-life pathways beyond recycling.”

Liz Helm, Director of Sustainability at TemperPack

EPDs for both products were verified and published in the International EPD System library. The manufacturer now has third-party-verified data to address customer requests and support certifications.

The LCA provided a comprehensive assessment of the product's environmental performance across its full life cycle, from raw material extraction and manufacturing to transportation and end-of-life treatment. It quantified the benefit of the product's renewable feedstocks, such as plant starch and cardboard, which sequester biogenic carbon during growth. It also measured how design decisions, such as adding plastic encapsulation for moisture resistance, influence the product's environmental profile. These results provide the manufacturer with data-driven insights to inform product selection and development.

The sensitivity analyses showed that end-of-life design is a significant factor in the product's overall environmental performance. Under typical disposal scenarios, landfilling and incineration account for a substantial share of life cycle impacts. When the foam is composted or disposed of via drain as intended, global warming potential could be meaningfully reduced.

• Drain disposal: 21–32% lower global warming potential
• Industrial composting: 9–14% lower global warming potential

However, reductions in global warming potential were accompanied by increases of comparable magnitude in other impact categories. That underscores the inherent trade-offs between end-of-life pathways and the importance of a multi-indicator approach to environmental decision-making. Given the limited availability of scenario-specific data for these disposal routes, the results should be treated as directional; further refinement of the modeling assumptions would be needed to validate these conclusions.

To further reduce impacts, the team recommended focusing on lighter materials, shorter transportation distances for raw materials and finished products, and higher recycled content in raw materials.

EPD for Green Cell Foam and Green Cell Plus found here: https://www.environdec.com/library/epd15138

To learn more about TemperPack, visit temperpack.com