Life Cycle Assessmentof snus cans in a cradle-to-grave studyA comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Swedish Match’s snuscans.

Abstract

This thesis investigates the environmental impact of four different packaging mate-rials for snus cans by conducting a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Twoexisting materials and two potential substitutes are assessed and compared. Cur-rent can materials are fossil-based polypropylene plastic and a wax coated recycledpaper. Substitutes are bio-based polypropylene plastic and a hybrid can combiningvirgin paper and plastic. The thesis was conducted in collaboration with SwedishMatch AB, a Swedish industrial company. The can is subject to regulations estab-lished by the Swedish Food Administration, and are therefore not possible to consistof recycled plastic.The following research questions were established and set out to be answered:What are the environmental impacts of Swedish Match’s existing cans and what isthe potential environmental impact of a substitute material which fulfills the samefunction?;What processes contributes most to the environmental impact of the cans and isit possible to facilitate recycling rate and thus lower the environmental impact byselecting a different material?;How can Swedish Match lower the environmental impacts from the snus cans?Two waste management methods are assessed: incineration and recycling. The end-of-life scenarios forms a sensitivity analysis, to study how impacts from investigatedmaterial is affected by adjusted rates of recycling and incineration. An additionalSA was conducted, with adjusted loss rates for cans at Swedish Match’s factory.Five impact categories are considered in the Life Cycle Impact Assessment: abioticresource use, acidification, climate change, eutrophication, and photochemical oxi-dation.The conclusion of the LCA is that the studied hybrid can is preferable as a packag-ing material, in regards to impact categories. The largest contributor to emissionscomes from material production, emphasizing the importance of minimizing lossesand facilitate recycling of materials. Choice of origin for the materials affect thepossible recycling rate and the possibility to be credited for material recovery. Ex-isting consumer waste behaviour is favourable for the material composition of thehybrid can compared to the other cans.