Beyond Material Footprints: A Function-Driven Framework for Assessing the Circularity and Sustainability of Food Packaging

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) introduces design and recycling requirements while permitting exemptions for demonstrated, indispensable product protection, yet assessment of circularity and sustainability remains largely material-centric. This study presents FunSusPack, a framework that grounds circularity and sustainability assessment in packaging’s functional role for protection, shelf life and logistics rather than material properties alone, enabling function-driven life cycle assessment. Applied to potato chips, the framework compares metallised PP, metallised paper, and transparent mono-PP designs. Key findings challenge prevailing narratives: transparent mono-PP bags provide sufficient moisture barrier for typical shelf-life duration for adapted supply-chain management, while metallised paper laminates have approximately 37 % higher climate impacts than the conventional PP reference. Headspace reductions by up to 30 % do not compromise mechanical protection and enabled secondary packaging redesign, reducing system-level climate impacts by approximately 33 % and increasing pallet utilisation by 22 %. The framework provides a methodological basis for PPWR compliance and future digital sustainability reporting.