Sustainable packaging trends: What considerations are there in reducing food waste?
Food, beverage and consumer product manufacturers will cut about 4 billion lb. of waste from the packaging they generate between 2005 and 2020, according to a 2011 study from the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), with a combination of efforts, including using fewer materials in the process, using more sustainable materials, and making more packaging that’s recyclable and that degrades faster.
Getting rid of waste from the process follows industry’s move from just considering packaging by itself and realizing that “packaging exists because of its role in the supply chain,” states Ronald Cotterman, an officer at the nonprofit American Institute for Packaging and the Environment (AMERIPEN). Recycling may be on consumers’ minds because it’s one of the sustainability efforts that is most visible to them, but manufacturers also have to consider sustainable packaging, the amount of material that goes into a package and the amount of water and energy it takes to get the product to the consumer, aspects the end user doesn’t see.