Sphera, an integrated risk management software and information services provider has collaborated with Interseroh on the development on a packaging life-cycle calculation tool for use by companies to rapidly analyse the environmental impact of packaging.
Called the GaBi Packaging CalculatoR+, the software will allow companies to create life-cycle analyses that assess packaging from its manufacture through recycling, as well as enabling the comparison of different packaging designs.
Interseroh, a German environmental services company that is part of the Alba Group, not only has wide experience with recycling but is also committed to more ‘environmentally friendly packaging and the prevention of climate-damaging emissions,’ said Markus Müller-Drexel, managing director of Interseroh Dienstleistungs GmbH.
Sphera’s GaBi Packaging Calculator, the previous version of the tool, is an LCA calculator specially designed for packaging. It is, says Sophie Kieselbach, senior consultant at Sphera, an ‘intuitive web tool ‘offering a ‘fact-based decision-making basis’ for sustainable packaging design. The calculator is based on a parameterised model from Sphera, which maps out the life-cycle of packaging and contains a considerable amount of environmental data on materials and manufacturing processes. However, it did not examine the impact of recycling.
The present ‘R+’ version, developed in partnership with Interseroh, makes use of the recycling expertise of that company. This includes its ‘Made for Recycling’ scientifically based evaluation method for analysing the recyclability of packaging in the laboratory and "Check for Recycling" service that allows customers to find out how well their product packaging can be collected separately, sorted and recycled into new products.
‘This provides security in terms of the German Packaging Act – and also provides companies with convincing sales arguments,’ said Kieselbach
The GaBi Packaging CalculatoR+ will go on sale on 1 April 2020.