Definition of Sustainable Food Packaging
Sustainable food packing is packaging that is produced in such a way as to minimise the negative impact on the environment. Sustainability is the concept of maintaining the way we live and the health of the earth on an ongoing basis. Essentially, when it comes to food packaging, this means products that use fewer resources to create, can be reused, can be composted or recycled, are biodegradable or some combination of those features.
There have been many concerns in recent years over certain types of packaging that are energy-intensive to create and then go to sit in landfill as soon as they have been used once, which is why there is a move towards sustainable food packaging. Thankfully, businesses have many options today over which sustainable packaging options they use for their products.
Examples of Sustainable Food Packaging
Compostable Chicken Boxes
Our compostable chicken boxes come in a range of sizes to accommodate all manner of meals. Not only are they compostable, which allows you to return them back to the earth and use them to stimulate more organic growth, but they are recyclable if you prefer. This allows them to be broken down and used to create other packaging in the future, without having to use more trees. In addition, they are biodegradable, so they will break down naturally if consumers do throw them in the landfill by mistake.
Single Wall White Paper Cups
These recyclable cups are created using sustainable virgin food grade boards. Sometimes it is necessary to use new materials when working with food products, rather than recycled boards, but we make sure that our materials come from sustainable sources and that they can be recycled after use as a paper cup, so that they do not go to waste.
Kraft Pizza Boxes
One of the issues with pizza boxes when it comes to recycling is that the grease and food particles can become soaked into or stuck into the cardboard. This makes it tricky to recycle because it contaminates the material. Thankfully, the lid is usually unaffected so you can rip that off and recycle it. In addition, the box is also biodegradable and compostable, so it will not clutter up landfill for decades and can even do good work enriching the soil. In addition, our kraft pizza boxes are made from recycled paper and renewable, FSC-certified natural fibre, which add even more to their sustainable credentials.
What is the least environmentally friendly packaging?
Plastic is seen as the least environmentally friendly packaging. It does not biodegrade for hundreds of years, which is disastrous if it ends up in landfill. In addition, the scourge of plastic getting into our oceans has been well documented.
- More than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die from plastic pollution every year
- Between 8 to 14 million tonnes of plastic enters the oceans every year
- There are 5000 pieces of plastic and 150 plastic bottles for each mile of the UK’s coastline
The disastrous effect this has on wildlife and the environment in general is so huge that it is easy to see why people are looking for sustainable alternatives.
In addition to plastic food packaging causing issues, styrofoam is also problematic. It can take hundreds of years to decompose, which means that it hangs around taking up landfill space. This once-popular food packaging option is closely linked with the outdated notion of merely throwing away products after one use into the regular bin. In order to embrace sustainable food packaging, we need to think about what happens after we finish with the packing we are using.
Looking for Sustainable Food Packaging?
If you are looking for a supplier to help you embrace sustainable food packaging, get in contact with us today.
