EU: More packaging can mean less waste

Plastics manufacturers and their customers in the European Union are under constant pressure to reduce the volume of plastics used in packaging, not least by the 2004 EU packaging and packaging waste directive. However, new research from Denkstatt, an Austrian environmental sustainability solutions think tank, has indicated that increasing the use of plastic in food packaging in a smart way can reduce spoilage in food and drink products, reducing waste.

It is the latest salvo in a long debate over the value of packaging — with packagers having been on the defensive for a decade, arguing that their output, by protecting products, reduces waste flows.

And Europe is facing a big problem with food waste. More than 100 million metric tons of food was wasted in the EU during 2012, according to a European Commission study released last year. As a result, the Commission released a policy paper encouraging EU member states to develop food waste prevention plans, with an option that they reduce food waste by 30 percent overall by 2025.

Françoise Gerardi, general manager of the French Plastic and Flexible Packaging Association, said reducing both food waste and plastic waste was a priority for the industry.

“We take it very seriously,” she said. “We have to be active to push in countries that don’t have a [plastic] recovery system. We have to encourage them. We have been developing recovery and recycling.”

Denkstatt, however, recommends a smarter approach. Its study stresses how plastic packaging: prevents damage and contamination of food; provides a barrier against moisture and oxygen; prolongs shelf life; and keeps food contained in a vacuum or other protective state. Denkstatt’s study, authored mainly by Harald Pilz, suggests packaging can be further optimized to improve barrier layers and puncture resistance, among other protective and waste-preventative characteristics.

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