The Players & Pathways To Packaging Sustainability Wins
After years of working in the food production space, it’s clear that food producers and consumers alike want to know more about how their actions can contribute to—or compromise—our roles as environmental stewards. For years, U.S. consumers have heard the mantra “Reduce, reuse, recycle,” and many of us, no matter where we live, do our best to decrease litter and reduce waste. While we are considering our individual environmental sustainability actions, many of us also recognize the importance of efforts being enhanced within the domestic food production industry to improve rates of recycling food packaging and reduce the amount of materials needed to produce new packaging. When thinking about enhancing packaging sustainability efforts, both consumers and industry have a role to play. The Path To Packaging Recycling Wins To better understand the packaging recycling pathways and how we can increase our “wins” in packaging sustainability, we must recognize the roles of three key players. First, there are the companies that manufacture materials needed to make packaging. Next there are companies that produce foods and beverages and utilize those materials to hold their products. Then there’s the consumers who buy packaged goods, and who may or may not recycle that packaging. While the companies that manufacture packaging materials and produce our foods and beverages hold a great deal of power in helping us achieve sustainability wins, consumers play a key role in closing the sustainability loop by recycling or choosing their purchases. Consumer Insights Are Key To Making The Right Plays Over the past decade, the annual IFIC Food and Health Survey has shown that taste, price, and healthfulness are the top characteristics consumers care about when making a food or beverage purchase. While environmental sustainability has historically been a lower-ranked purchase driver, the past several years have shown a shift […]
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