Commentary: Why some plastic packaging is necessary

Plastic packaging may be beneficial in reducing food waste, say Brunel University London's Manoj Dora
and Eleni Lacovidou.

LONDON: There has been a surge in awareness of the damage that plastic pollution does to our planet in
recent years. It has spurred a number of campaigns to remove single-use plastics from our daily lives.
This extends to food packaging, with a Waitrose supermarket in the city of Oxford recently launching a
package-free trial. Many people bemoan the large amount of packaging that supermarkets use,
particularly for fruit and vegetables, most of which have their own natural protection. Nonetheless, a
major reason that supermarkets use so much packaging is to protect food and prevent waste –
particularly with fresh food. Removing plastic entirely from our food supply may not be the best solution
when it comes to protecting the environment and conserving valuable resources. Food supply chains are
complex networks with lots of parts. In Europe alone, 12 million farms produce agricultural products
which are processed by around 300,000 food and drink companies. These are then distributed by 2.8
million food retailers and food services, serving around 500 million consumers. Food typically travels
from the fields where it is produced to a storage facility for processing. It is then stored until it is
needed. Then it’s packaged, transported and distributed to shops, where it is marketed, before being
bought and consumed. This takes a varying amount of time, depending on where it is farmed and how
long it stays in someone’s fridge or cupboard. Plastic packaging is used in the food supply chain because
it supports the safe distribution of food over long distances and minimises food waste by keeping food
fresh for longer. A 2016 review of studies on food waste found that 88 million tonnes of food is wasted
every year in the EU – that’s 173kg per person and equals about 20 per cent of food
produced. Minimising this wastage is crucial for environmental protection, as well as food security.

REDUCING WASTE

More than 50 per cent of food waste takes place in households and nearly 20 per cent is wasted during
processing. Plastic packaging may be a necessary evil to reduce this high level of waste in both areas. A
number of factors must be taken into account when determining how useful plastic packaging is in the
food supply chain, as it has the potential to preserve food and prevent its wastage. For example, the use
of just 1.5g of plastic film for wrapping a cucumber can extend its shelf life from three days to 14 days
and selling grapes in plastic bags or trays has reduced in-store wastage of grapes by 20 per cent. A lot of
food is air freighted, so prolonging its shelf life has important benefits for the environment. It minimises
waste and conserves all valuable resources involved from farm to shelf. Recent estimates from Zero
Waste Scotland suggest that the carbon footprint of food waste generated can be higher than that of
plastic. Specifically, 456,000 tonnes of food waste produced in Scottish households were found to
contribute to around 1.9 million tonnes of CO2, three times higher than that of the 224,000 tonnes of
plastic waste generated. Plastic packaging maintains food quality and safety. Food that is naturally
wrapped in its own skin and can be safely transported and consumed without the need for single-use
plastic packaging often draws attention. But research shows that these products appear to be
sustainable only where short food supply chains exist. When food is transported from further away, as a
lot is, plastic can play an important role in protecting it from becoming waste. Furthermore, plastic
packaging is more flexible and lighter than alternatives such as glass and card. This reduces
transportation costs and the carbon emissions that come with them.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Simply removing plastic from food packaging is not as sustainable as one might think. There are lots of
cases where plastic packaging can be beneficial at reducing waste. But food sellers need to think of ways
to reduce and reuse the plastic where possible. To reduce the amount of plastic that is needed, short
food supply chains must be developed, as this involves very few intermediaries between where the food
is farmed and where it is bought and consumed. It may mean switching to more seasonal diets. Farmers’
markets, community-based growers and basket delivery systems helps connect consumers to where
their food is produced in ways that can also help reduce food packaging and waste. The challenge here is
how it can be scaled up in ways that are economically feasible. Most sellers will have economic concerns
that influence how they use plastic. It is often not just used for preservation but for marketing and the
desire of retails to get people to buy more (think, multipacks), which can lead to waste. Another solution
is to develop a more circular economic model where plastic is reused and recycled a lot more. This
makes economic as well as environmental sense.

Work is also being done into new, bio-based packaging that can perform the same role as conventional
plastic in terms of protecting food and preventing food waste – and could also be biodegradable. But a
lot of questions remain as to whether bio-based plastics are actually sustainable in the long term,
especially if vast amounts of resources are needed to produce them. Until a sustainable packaging
alternative is developed, big retailers will continue to rely on plastic to protect food from going to
waste. Plastic itself is a very useful material. We need to use it more effectively and more sparingly in
some cases but we shouldn’t get rid of it altogether.