Abstract
Carlsberg, the fourth largest global brewer in the world, and a selection of global suppliers have created the
Carlsberg Circular Community (CCC), a cooperation platform aiming at rethinking the design and production of
traditional packaging material. The ambition of the CCC is to develop products that are optimized for recycling and
reuse, while retaining their quality and their value. CCC will contribute to reduce the reliance on raw materials, involve
consumers and customers, as well as create new types of cooperation among partners to generate resource efficient
products. Both Carlsberg and its suppliers are familiar with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and have
successfully integrated it in product development and improvement. However, being inspired by the eco-efficiency
principle, LCA aims to reduce the negative environmental footprint of human activities by optimizing product system
individually in relation to current background systems. It does not consider multiple future uses of resources in
continuous loops and can be misleading in the assessment of recycling benefits, as the quality of the new product is
not included in the analysis. Since the aim of the initiative is to generate value for the stakeholders across the value
chain and provide a positive impact for the users, then a broader approach oriented towards product quality and
innovation was selected, i.e. the Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) design framework. C2C aims indeed at increasing the
positive footprint of products and systems maximizing the benefit to ecological and economical systems, rather than
as re-designing ingredients or additives in a material so they improve the quality of recycling. From a company point
of view, LCA and C2C can be seen as complementary approaches in the development of sustainable and innovative
solutions for beer packaging. However, from a value chain perspective C2C-inspired initiatives are potentially more
beneficial. We will illustrate the challenges and opportunities emerging from the Carlsberg Circular Community
experience in developing products that are optimized for re-entry as valuable resources into biological or technical
cycles.
focusing on reducing the negative impacts of the existing solutions. A key aspect in the C2C design concept is the
“up-cycling” approach, which consists in improving the quality of materials or systems for recycling materials, as well
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | SETAC Europe 20th LCA Case Study Symposium. Abstracts |
Number of pages | 2 |
Publisher | Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry |
Publication date | 2014 |
Pages | 47-48 |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Event | SETAC Europe 20th LCA Case Study Symposium - Novi Sad, Serbia Duration: 24 Nov 2014 → 26 Nov 2014 Conference number: 20 |
Conference
Conference | SETAC Europe 20th LCA Case Study Symposium |
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Number | 20 |
Country/Territory | Serbia |
City | Novi Sad |
Period | 24/11/2014 → 26/11/2014 |