Q1- What are the shifts within the packaging industry towards green technology or materials in packaging?
A-The terms ‘green’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ packaging have been used (and misused) for many years. Twenty years ago packaging had to be environmentally friendly but nowadays it has to be sustainable. One element common to all these terms is that none has an agreed definition.
Q2-How does food packaging contribute to sustainability?
A-Packaging’s contribution to economic, environmental and social sustainability can be illustrated by the fact that in developing countries the lack of packaging or inadequate packaging results in 30% to 50% of all food produced never reaching the final consumer. This compares with 2% to 5% in developed countries. So what the developing world needs is actually more and better packaging; this could make a significant contribution to reducing world hunger.
Q3-What are the Greatest challenges facing food Packaging industry?
A-Much is made of biobased packaging materials since they are made from renewable resources but the rhetoric never matches the reality. Total production of bioplastics this year is less than 500,000 tonnes compared with around 250 million tonnes of petroleum based plastics. So it is still a very small niche market and will do little to reduce overall environmental impacts. In fact the assumption that biobased packaging materials are better for the environment is not universally true and they will not provide a magic bullet to solve packaging waste problems. However, this has not stopped companies marketing products in biobased packaging materials and targeting wealthy consumers who genuinely want to do the right thing for the environment. So the biggest challenge is ensuring that claims for ‘greener’ packaging can really be substantiated using anevidence-based approach, i.e. life cycle assessment.
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