Sustainability in Food Packaging

Plastic waste and single-use packaging are pressing global concerns—but food packaging is also crucial for reducing food waste, ensuring food safety and delivering essential information. Therefore, the packaging of food is also a sustainability solution, not just a problem. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to the sustainability of food packaging, drawing from economics, environmental science, technology, social sciences and cultural studies. It explores the key principles of sustainable packaging while addressing critical gaps in current assessments as well as the role of innovation, policy and consumer behavior. With a holistic systems perspective, Sustainability Transition in Food Packaging: Systems, Actors and Innovation offers fresh insights into the challenges and innovations shaping the future of packaging. Essential reading for researchers, industry professionals and policymakers, this book provides actionable pathways toward a more sustainable and responsible food packaging system. The sustainability of food packaging is a key priority in the food industry, as plastic waste and littering have become global concerns. Packaging waste accounts for over half of total global waste, predominantly from single-use plastic food packaging. Production of packaging consumes significant natural resources and contributes to climate change and pollution. However, packaging is also crucial for reducing food waste, protecting food safety, and providing vital information about contents, making it an essential sustainability solution, not just a problem. Sustainability Transition in Food Packaging: Systems, Actors, and Innovation explores sustainable food packaging from an interdisciplinary perspective, integrating economics, environmental science, technology, social sciences and cultural studies. This broad approach expands beyond the traditional focus on packaging as a product, considering its content and the services it provides. While sustainable packaging is often defined by four principles—effectiveness, efficiency, circularity, and safety—current applications primarily focus on the packaging itself, overlooking broader impacts such as marine and soil littering. Life cycle assessments (LCA) of packaging frequently ignore social, cultural, and economic sustainability aspects and often fail to account for the diverse interpretations of LCA standards. While the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) offers a uniform solution, challenges remain due to undefined packaging category rules. Food packaging is rapidly evolving, driven by innovation, political action, and consumer demand. Given the global and varied nature of the food supply chain, one-size-fits-all solutions are insufficient. This book offers a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to sustainability, fostering dialogue and research across different research fields. It examines different conceptualizations of sustainable food packaging including methods for analyzing sustainability. The volume introduces novel methodologies, such as LCA with a focus on littering, and provides insights on overcoming the challenges of transitioning to a more sustainable food packaging system.