CPP Environmental Sustainability & Packaging Flashcards

According to ISO 14040/14044, which sequence correctly lists the four phases of a life cycle assessment?

Answer: Goal and scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment, interpretation

ISO 14040 defines goal and scope definition, LCI, LCIA, and interpretation as the LCA phases.

A resin supplier publishes a 'cradle-to-gate' carbon footprint for its PET. What does this boundary exclude?

Answer: Use phase and end-of-life of the finished package

Cradle-to-gate stops at the factory gate, omitting downstream conversion, use, and disposal.

Which material qualifies as post-consumer recycled (PCR) content under common definitions such as ISO 14021?

Answer: Bottles collected from household curbside recycling and reprocessed

PCR comes from products that have served their intended use by end users; in-plant scrap is pre-consumer.

Which example best represents closed-loop recycling rather than downcycling?

Answer: Used aluminum beverage cans remelted into new beverage can sheet

Closed-loop recycling returns material to the same application, as with can-to-can aluminum.

Why are carbon-black-pigmented plastic trays frequently lost at material recovery facilities (MRFs)?

Answer: Near-infrared (NIR) optical sorters cannot reliably identify the polymer

Carbon black absorbs NIR light, so sorters cannot read the resin and the trays end up as residue.

A snack brand wants its flexible pouch to be recyclable in store drop-off PE streams. Which redesign best supports this goal?

Answer: Replace a PET/foil/PE laminate with a mono-material PE structure

Mono-material PE structures can be reprocessed in PE film streams, whereas multi-material laminates cannot be separated.

The How2Recycle on-pack labeling program in North America is managed by which organization?

Answer: GreenBlue's Sustainable Packaging Coalition

How2Recycle is a project of GreenBlue, the nonprofit that runs the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.