Food packaging: beyond reduction

A report of the May 2009 meeting of the FEC’s Business Forum

About half of the 10 million tonnes of packaging that ended up as waste in the UK in 2006 came from food and drink. But is less always better? The May 2009 meeting of the Food Ethics Council’s (FEC) Business Forum discussed the issue.

The meeting was chaired by Jeanette Longfield MBE, Co-ordinator of Sustain and a member of the FEC.

We are very grateful to Mark Barthel, WRAP Special Adviser, for speaking at the meeting.

Key points from the meeting include:

• While 4.7 million tonnes of food packaging were reported in the UK in 2008, the total is higher, because some packaging falls outside reporting requirements.
• Even small changes can make a big difference; packaging can often be significantly reduced with no loss of functionality.
• Around two-thirds of UK packaging is recycled.
• New caustic washing processes are bringing us closer to closed-loop recycling.
• Packaging can play an important role in reducing the 6.7 million tonnes a year of food waste in the UK.
• Challenges include the adoption of targets that balance multiple sustainability indicators and tackling packaging waste in food service.
• Future policies must be equipped to cope with technological innovation or changes in consumer behaviour that break from current trends.
• The market cannot be relied upon to provide incentives for green innovation.