Progress in food processing and food packaging plays a crucial role in maintaining the food supply of the European Union, among the safest in the world.

Simply put, packaging preserves the benefits of food processing after the process is complete, allowing food to travel safely over long distances, from its point of origin, and remain healthy when consumed.

However, packaging technology must balance food protection with other issues, including energy and material costs, increased social and environmental awareness, and strict regulations on pollutants and municipal solid waste disposal.

This theme has been studied at Wageningen University, where researchers Betty Bugusu and Kenneth Marsh published the study titled "Food Packaging and Environmental Issues."

A misconception

Municipal solid waste (MSW) consists of commonly discarded items, including packaging, food waste, yard trimmings, and durable items such as refrigerators and computers. Legislative and regulatory efforts to control packaging are based on the misconception that packaging is the major burden of MSW.

Instead, the European Commission found that only about 31% of the waste generated (MSW) in 2015 came from packaging-related materials, including glass, metal, plastic, paper, and cardboard, a percentage that has remained relatively constant since the 1990s, despite an increase in the total quantity of MSW.

Unpackaged sources, such as newspaper, phone books, and office communications, generate more than twice as much MSW. Food is the only class of products usually consumed three times a day by each person. Consequently, food packaging accounts for almost two-thirds of the total volume of packaging waste (Hunt and All-2010). Furthermore, food packaging represents about 50% of the weight of total packaging sales.

Although specific available knowledge has changed since the publication of the first summary of the scientific state regarding the relationship between packaging and MSW (IFT 1991), the issue remains poorly understood, complicating efforts to address the environmental impact of discarded packaging materials.

The study provides an overview of EPA solid waste management guidelines and other waste management options. Finally, it addresses methods and legislation regarding packaging disposal.

Loss management

Proper waste management is essential for protecting human health and the environment and conserving natural resources. EPA seeks to motivate behavioral change in solid waste management through non-regulatory approaches, including payments. In payment systems, as residents dispose of waste, they are taxed for MSW services based on the amount of garbage they throw away. This creates an incentive to generate less waste and increase material recovery through recycling and composting.

On average, communities with such payment programs achieve waste reduction rates ranging from 14% to 27% per year. WasteWise (launched in 1994) is a voluntary partnership between the EPA and U.S. businesses, and later, in the European Union, institutions, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies, to prevent waste, promote recycling, and purchase products with recycled content. Over 1800 organizations participated in the WasteWise program in 2005 (EPA 2005).

Furthermore, environmentally preferable purchasing programs help agencies and other organizations buy products with lower or reduced impacts on human health and the environment compared to other products with the same purpose. Pollution prevention is the primary objective, with a broader environmental scope than simply waste reduction.

From a regulatory perspective, solid waste management guidelines emphasize using an integrated hierarchical approach: source reduction, recycling, composting, incineration, and landfill disposal. Waste incineration and landfilling methods are regulated under resource conservation and recovery laws.

Source reduction

Source reduction, i.e., waste prevention, involves reducing the quantity and/or toxicity of waste generated in the first place by changing the design, manufacturing, purchasing, or use of materials and original products.

The Commission considers source reduction the best way to reduce the solid waste impact on the environment because it avoids waste generation altogether. Source reduction includes using less packaging, designing products to last longer, and reusing products and materials.

Specific ways to achieve source reduction include lightweight packaging, purchasing durable goods, buying larger sizes (which use less packaging per unit volume), or reusable containers, and selecting products without toxic agents. Overall, source reduction has many environmental benefits, including resource conservation, environmental protection, and greenhouse gas prevention.

Lighter packaging

One way to achieve source reduction is through lightweight packaging, using thinner packaging materials, either by reducing the amount used or by using alternative materials. Girling (2013) reported that the average weight of glass containers decreased by nearly 50% from 1992 to 2002.

Similarly, aluminum cans became 26% lighter in 2005 compared to 1975, with approximately 34 cans made from 1 kilogram of aluminum, compared to 27 cans in 1975 (Aluminum Assn. 2006).

According to the EPA (2004), AnheuserBusch Companies Inc. reduced its aluminum quantities by 24 ounces in 2003, resulting in a reduction of 5.1 million pounds of aluminum consumption. The amount of aluminum used in laminates was also reduced.

Furthermore, steel cans became lighter by at least 40% compared to those from the 1970s. The amount of sheet metal was drastically reduced from pre-World War II levels of 50 kilograms of sheet metal per ton of steel to a current average of 6 euros per ton (Miller 2013).

Although relatively new packaging materials, plastic containers have also reduced their weight. The weight of 2-liter PETE beverage bottles decreased by 25% (from 68 to 51 grams) starting in 1977, resulting in an annual savings of over 286 million euros in plastic packaging (European Plastics Council 2016). Similarly, plastic milk containers saw a 30% weight reduction over the last 20 years.

The cardboard industry's involvement

Lightweighting has been achieved in the cardboard industry by using thinner gauge materials. For example, Anheuser-Busch saved 7.5 million euros by reducing the thickness of its 12-bottle packaging (EPA 2004). Another way to achieve source reduction is through reuse.

For example, some glass containers are frequently reused after thorough washing. Reusable plastic containers are typically made from PETE, PEN, or high-density polyethylene, and polycarbonate trial programs, although their use is declining.

This is partly because the collection, transportation, and cleaning of such containers pose logistical challenges that lead to manufacturing preferences for single-use containers. In addition, manufacturers have achieved source reduction by offering refillable products, especially with non-food products such as household cleaning products.

Reusable glass containers for beverage use have largely been replaced by thinner glass or plastic containers due to transportation costs and cleaning requirements. However, refillable glass containers are still common in other countries.

PETE containers have been depolymerized and repolymerized to avoid potential contamination issues from post-consumer waste streams, but the process has not been economically practical.

Recirculation

Recycling diverts materials from the waste stream to material recovery. Unlike reuse, which involves using a returned product in its original form, recycling involves reprocessing the material into new products. A typical recycling program involves collection, sorting, processing, manufacturing, and selling recycled materials and products.

For recycling to be economically viable, recycled products and materials must have a market.

Comprehensive procurement guidelines promote the purchase of products made from recycled materials. In each country, as well as at the community level, authorities designate products that can be made from recovered materials and recommend practices for purchasing these products.

Once a product is designated, procurement agencies must buy the product with the highest possible level of recovered material content. EPA has selected over 60 products with recycled content under the CPG program and proposed several additional products. Almost all packaging materials (glass, metal, thermoplastics, paper, and cardboard) are recyclable.

Various factors play into any economic evaluation of recycling, including the costs of collection, separation, cleaning or reprocessing, and transportation (energy). There must also be a market and application for recycled products and the presence of competing materials.

For example, materials recovered through recycling of metals and glass are considered safe for food-contact containers because the heat used to melt and shape the material is sufficient to destroy microorganisms and pyrolyze organic contaminants.

Although the processing of plastic materials also eliminates enough heat to destroy microorganisms, it is not sufficient to pyrolyze all organic contaminants, and post-consumer recycled plastic materials are generally not used in food-contact applications.

Integration into the circular economy

A total of 30 million tons of containers and packaging were recycled in 2005 (40% of the generated quantity). Due to increased collection and demand for recycled glass, glass recycling has increased in recent years. Now, the quantities are much higher. Approximately 90% of recycled crushed glass (cullet) is used as raw material to make new containers.

Aluminum can recycling has also increased, reaching 62% in 2015 after hitting 50% in 2003. Recycling rates for plastics, especially PETE and high-density polyethylene bottles, have increased significantly since the 1990s (European Plastics Council 2014).

EPA considers composting a form of recycling. Composting is the controlled aerobic or biological degradation of organic materials, such as food and yard waste. Consequently, it involves arranging organic materials in piles and ensuring adequate moisture for aerobic decomposition by microorganisms.

Periodic turning of the piles promotes aeration to prevent anaerobic conditions. The resulting humus, a soil-like material, is used as natural fertilizer, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.

Organic materials continue to be a large component of total MSW (approximately 25% for food waste and yard trimmings), making composting a valuable alternative to waste disposal.