Page 9 - Processing And Packaging News Today

If relevant stakeholders – from government to industry and consumers – play their part, recyclability can be improved and plastic pollution eliminated, believes NGO WRAP.

Food packaging has a number of key roles. Firstly, it aims to keep food safe from its environment, so it doesn’t get dirty or contaminated. Secondly, it makes it more convenient to transport. Thirdly, it can serve to extend food shelf life. It is this third purpose that combats a range of causes of food decay, and must use a range of materials.

Plastic pollution is a global concern, with an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic enters the marine environment every year, wreaking havoc on the planet, ocean-life, and even humans. What role can innovation in food and beverage packaging play in addressing this problem?

Packaging is the shop window for your brand, the primary interface through which food and beverage manufacturers interact with consumers. Packaging innovation, therefore, cannot be taken lightly. How are R&D teams leveraging packaging science to develop the packs of tomorrow? IFIS Publishing MD and FoodNavigator advisory board member Katy Askew digs into the data.

Partially sighted consumers are a growing demographic. Solutions are coming aimed at allowing these shoppers to more easily access key on-pack product information and nutritional details.

Vertical Future will be the first UK-based company working in the agri-space sector after it received a grant to develop controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology for future space exploration missions.

It is important not to mislead consumers with sustainability claims. However, fears of inadvertently misleading consumers can, according to findings from a recent roundtable, contribute to ‘greenhushing’, when companies fail to share progress in sustainability measures for fear of inadvertently publishing misleading information.

Part of its strategy includes exploring alternative plastic materials, but the company wants to make sure new solutions don’t end up having a worse impact on the environment. “It’s a complicated puzzle, but it’s one we’re committed to solving,” Rashida La Lande, executive vice president, global general counsel, and chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer at Kraft Heinz tells FoodNavigator.

The UK’s Notpla, which creates sustainable packaging solutions from seaweed and plants that disappear naturally to give consumers the convenience of single-use without the plastic waste, is cheering after Prince William unveiled ‘The Earthshot Burger’ to unsuspecting burger van customers in London.

In what is considered a landmark study, a team of international researchers has identified cancer risk – and other human health findings – associated with the production, use, and disposal of plastic.