<p class="MDPI12titleori1" style="mso-line-height-alt: 14.0pt; tab-stops: 361.5pt;">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 1,000 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 functional environmental parity: 152 ± 14 mPt for PP and 158 ± 14 mPt for the bioplastic. While Monte Carlo analysis suggests a statistically significant difference, the overlapping standard deviations indicate that, in practice, the choice does not yield a tangible benefit, validating the robustness of the comparative results and the stability of the environmental scores. Bioplastic films showed advantages in fossil resource depletion; however, these were offset by higher impacts in marine eutrophication and freshwater ecotoxicity. A critical finding is that the theoretical benefit of compostability is currently hindered by infrastructural deficiencies in industrial composting. Under current production and end-of-life scenarios, PP offers a marginally better environmental profile. These results highlight that the transition to bioplastics requires not only material innovation but also systemic improvements in waste management infrastructure.