Reduction and recycling are two important pillars to approach a more sustainable and circular economy. Two scientific articles explore options on how food packaging can be reduced and plastic recycling rates increased.
In an article published on January 24, 2022, in the Journal of Cleaner Production Sabrina Chakori from The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia and co-authors explored the drivers of food packaging use and potential solutions to reduce associated negative side effects. To approach the complexity of food systems in which many actors and their activities are interlinked with each other and the environment in its ‘wholeness’, the scientists combined system thinking complemented by network analysis. Practically, this means that they validated a previously developed Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) illustrating drivers of food packaging use and their cause-effect-correlation by condusting semi-structured interviews (FPF reported). The authors contacted 122 Australian experts of which they interviewed 18 between March and August 2020 on their understanding of the factors influencing food packaging use (the problem), the causality, and feedback. Experts included representatives from academia, government, food industry, packaging manufacturers, supermarkets and other retailers as well as non-profit and umbrella organizations. Network analysis was used to test whether the developed diagram reflected the complex real-world food systems.
Chakori and co-authors found that “the most influential food packaging drivers belong to the globalization and household subsystem” and that “current interventions and solutions identified by the participants of this study do not tackle the problem drivers, hence the problem persists.” Their findings highlight that packaging dependence “is a symptom of the growth-driven globalized food market and time-deprived society.” The authors think that symptomatic solutions hinder the systemic redesign of food systems and are to be avoided.
Based on the developed understanding of the systemic causes of the problems, Chakori et al. also worked out solutions toward a more sustainable food economy relying less on food packaging. Here, they propose the transition towards economic degrowth as an option to reduce food packaging use. This includes incentivizing the re-localization of the food system, the design of a non-profit food economy, and efforts to increase time for cooking by reducing labor time. The most common interventions mentioned by the experts to manage food packaging-related issues were recycling, legislation, and new sustainable materials. Since the scientists only consulted experts in Australia but the current food systems have a global nature, they recommend validating their findings by interviews in other countries.
Jose F. Lopez-Aguilar from the Escuela Universitaria de Diseño e Ingeniería de Barcelona, Spain, and co-authors focused on recycling by investigating data gaps and improvements in that area. Their research was published on February 19, 2022, in the peer-reviewed journal Sustainable Production and Consumption. The scientists explored waste collection and recycling at its current state and compared it with the European Union’s circularity targets, especially the goal to increase recycling. Accroding to the 2018 ammended directive on packaging and packaging waste (Directive (EU) 2018/852) by the end of 2025 a minimum of 65% by weight of all packaging waste will be recycled” (FPF reported).
Lopez-Aguilar and co-authors performed a material flow analysis (MFA) of plastic packaging waste in Spain differentiating between different plastic types, such as high- and low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS), as well as food and non-food contact articles. The analysis showed that 15% of plastic waste is collected and 11% is recycled. The scientists emphasized that this is well below the 48% to 70% that packaging waste companies officially reported to recycle and well below Europe’s future recycling targets. The study further found that recycling rates largely differ between plastic types. While the MFA indicated PET and HDPE plastics collection and recycling was the highest, only 3% of plastic films were found to be effectively recycled. This is in line with a report published in 2019 highlighting that flexible films and shrink sleeves recycling is problematic (FPF reported).
Based on the MFA results, the researchers also provided recommendations on how to increase collection and recycling rates and transition towards a circular plastics economy. They propose to use rigid PET and HDPE, avoid LDPE and PP films, as well as to have a harmonized packaging design and waste management system for plastics with and without food contact. The authors further concluded that “it is not possible to achieve the EU’s circularity targets without reconsidering the material and packaging design system.”
References
Chakori, S. et al (2022). “Taking a whole-of-system approach to food packaging reduction.” Journal of Cleaner Production. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130632
Lopez-Aguilar, J. F. et al (2022). “A realistic material flow analysis for end-of-life plastic packaging management in Spain: Data gaps and suggestions for improvements towards effective recyclability.” Sustainable Production and Consumption. DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2022.02.011
