Effects of Different Packaging Methods on the Carbon Footprint of Cooked Rice
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Abstract:
Global warming has become a serious problem facing the international community, and all countries strive to deal with it. The food system produces a large amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and thus study of the carbon footprint (CF) in the food industry has become a hot topic. Based on the lifecycle assessment (LCA) method, the CFs of different packaging processes of cooked rice were calculated in the present study from the prospective of unit operations. The results showed that the final CFs of packaging 200 g of cooked rice were 34.05±0.01, 57.94±0.01, 214.39±0.26, 220.53±0.26, 224.76±0.55, and 230.58±0.52 g carbon dioxide eq under vacuum packaging, air packaging, and modified-atmosphere packaging conditions (40% oxygen+20% carbon dioxide+40% nitrogen, 50% oxygen+20% carbon dioxide+30% nitrogen, 60% oxygen+20% carbon dioxide+20% nitrogen, and 70% oxygen+20% carbon dioxide+10% nitrogen), respectively. The carbon emissions from plastic products contributed the majority of the final CF, and the final CF produced by the gases used in modified atmosphere packaging accounted for a high proportion. In addition, sensitivity analysis showed that the final CF during the packaging process was sensitive to plastic emission factors. For air packaging and modified-atmosphere packaging, CF was stable to the changes of originally applied equipment emission factors and the efficiency of electricity use, but for vacuum packaging, CF was sensitive to both of these factors. The results indicated that the final CF of a product could be reduced by decreasing the use of plastic products.
