With retailers striving to increase consumer choice at every occasion, the number of packaged goods on the market is rising year-on-year. The very nature of the word ‘fresh’ attached to produce implies a limited shelf life and a need for protection, which makes packaging an inexorable commodity.
With increased produce volumes comes increased wastage which needs to be accounted for. But who is responsible for the issue of packaging waste and what should be done to tackle the epidemic?
“Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997, all but the smallest companies involved in the packaging supply chain have an annual obligation to ensure that amounts relevant to the weight of packaging that they deal with get recycled,” says Sainsbury’s recycling and resources manager, James McKechnie. “Amounts to be recycled increase annually and of the 100 per cent of packaging that makes its way into the marketplace/ environment each year, UK PLC is currently having over 60 per cent recycled. The reason the targets weren’t originally set at 100 per cent was to allow time for the national recycling infrastructure to grow.”
However, according to Jane Bickerstaffe of INCPEN (the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment), while recycling is often the buzzword for champions of eco-friendly practises, it is not always the most suitable option. “If you are talking about glass bottles then it would be worth trying to recycle the waste but with thin plastic films, it is not better for the environment overall,” says Bickerstaffe. “Recycling has its own environmental impact since you use more energy in collecting, cleaning and transportation. We are very anti-incineration in this country but it is actually a sensible approach. In Copenhagen, for instance, because there is a clear landfill directive, more and more pressure is being issued to reduce degraded material that goes to landfill and to be able to do that they are having to look at incineration.”
Bickerstaffe says while it is widely accepted that the biggest threat to the environment is global warming, unnecessary scare-mongering and a failure to recognise the real issues at stake has prevailed. Making a large-scale move to conserve energy through transport usage would be far more worthwhile than worrying about each item of packaging going to waste, she says.
Jan Koojiman, a consultant to the food and packaging industry in the Netherlands, agrees. In a dossier on the ‘Environmental Impact of Packaging in the UK Food Supply System’, he says: “Neither recycling nor return for ‘re-use’ systems are environmental virtues in their own right - they are both industrial processes that use energy and have their own environmental burdens.”
“Driving a mile less a day or turning the room thermostat down 2°C saves the energy of a whole year’s packaging,” Bickerstaffe claims. At the same time, while consumers should support local recycling initiatives, the car they are driving to make their deposits is likely to have a far greater impact on the environment, she explains. “Trading in a 4-wheel drive for a more fuel-efficient car saves the same amount of energy as saved by 400 years bottle recycling by a single household.”
As well as focusing on the end product, reducing the overall use of packaging is key. Despite the furore surrounding the amount of waste which gets dumped on landfill sites every year, initiatives have been in process for a number of years to reduce the amount of packaging waste, says Bickerstaffe. “While the number of packaged goods has risen dramatically, the amount of packaging used for each product is so much less that the net weight of packaging used is probably no greater than that of 20 years ago.”
McKechnie agrees that material substitution has been a top priority and Sainsbury’s buyers, product technologists and environment team are continually looking for opportunities to reduce packaging, or where appropriate, substitute packaging, for example, from PVC to PET, which is more recyclable, he says. “We are conducting a programme of substituting our PVC punnets for PET ones as a growing number of councils collect this type of plastic for recycling,” he adds.
As well as complying with the mandatory recycling targets under the packaging regulations, Sainsbury’s has set targets to reduce store waste and packaging, relative to turnover. “We publish progress as part of our Corporate Responsibility reports on our website,” says McKechnie. “For the last two years we have not increased the amount of food waste sent to landfill and the amount of packaging used has declined relative to turnover.”
In a movement towards ‘greening the supply chain’, Bickerstaffe says most retailers are making increasing demands on their suppliers to meet various environmental standards, which are in turn pressing packaging suppliers to keep improving their environmental profile. In addition, larger companies have a number of initiatives in place to help smaller suppliers understand and improve environmental impact.
In a bid to raise awareness INCPEN has proposed the establishment of a new packaging consumer watchdog to offer advice to all companies and support trading standards officers in their work to enforce regulations. “There has been a lot of interest from consumer groups and the industry because everyone agrees that it makes sense to have something that focuses specifically on the areas where consumers have concerns,” says Bickerstaffe. “However it needs to be independent, and seen to be independent, of industry, so government needs to take a lead in funding it and we need to continue to show them how a consumer watchdog can meet their objectives for sustainable production and consumption.”
Consumers have often raised concern over the notion of over-packaging, but given the competitive nature of the industry, it is in everyone’s interest to keep volumes of packaging as low as possible. The cost of raw materials has risen recently, which could encourage a reduction in use, but like all commodities it varies, says Bickerstaffe. “However, it is always a cost to the manufacturer and, to be competitive, all companies try to reduce costs so there is a commercial incentive to reduce packaging.”
Amid talks of the unsightliness of dumped plastic and cardboard, consumers are sometimes quick to brand all packaging as abhorrent and unnecessary. However, it has a valid function which would become all-too apparent if packaging were to suddenly be prohibited, say retailers. “Packaging must carry out its primary function of getting the product intact through the supply chain to the consumer and we must be wary of reducing packaging at one point in the chain and increasing damage elsewhere,” says McKechnie. “Punnets are better at protecting easily damaged products like strawberries.” And the widespread use of controlled or modified atmosphere packaging has contributed to a huge reduction in food wastage, Bickerstaffe adds.
Furthermore, withholding packaging leads to a much greater volume of food waste, which has a much bigger environmental impact than over-packaging, in terms of wasting resources and energy consumption, according to Koojiman: “If we did not have packaging, up to twice as much energy would be needed to feed people because much more food would be wasted during distribution.”
McKechnie agrees that food wastage has become an important issue with the rising demand for fresh produce and the time-poor nature of modern living. However, Sainsbury’s is taking steps to redress this issue, he says. “Most of our stores are linked to charities like the Salvation Army for donation of unsold surplus food. For the food waste that isn’t donatable we have been involved with composting trials and, more recently, anaerobic digestion, for over 10 years now and this is just starting to become a commercially viable alternative to landfill.”
In terms of prepared produce, Somerfield fresh produce technical controller, Bill Harvey, claims the increasing demand in this area has not significantly affected the overall volume of packaging waste from the category. “In many cases a prepared product will reduce the amount of packaging a customer puts in their shopping basket, as usually individual ingredients would be packaged in some way as well.”
While she strongly agrees companies should be held accountable for the waste they are producing, Bickerstaffe says the public has a part to play as well. “The consumer has some responsibility for what they choose. They could grow their own produce so if they choose to buy, having some kind of packaging is the only way it can go through the supply chain.”
In addition, it is fundamental to choose the right amount of food for each household. Statistics suggest that single-person households produce far more waste than larger families, which is in part due to the single consumer’s inability to gauge how much he or she requires, but it is also the retailers’ responsibility to provide a range of portion sizes to minimise wastage, Koojiman suggests. “Buy the right amount of what you need - to avoid the product being wasted; and buy it appropriately packaged - unwrapped for immediate consumption, large bulk quantities for a party, single portions if you plan to eat alone, long-life for storage, decorated for a gift.”
Bickerstaffe agrees, surmising the situation ultimately requires participation across the industry and the public to ensure the cost of packaging is justified, in environmental as well as economical terms.
AT ONE WITH NATURE
Driven by the recognition of a need for sustainable development, in the mid 1990s Nature Pack introduced a range of packaging designed to minimise any negative impact on the environment.
“The packaging is predominantly made from rice husks and a calcium based mineral exuded with two thin layers of polypropylene,” says Andrew Stevenson, director of Nature Packs’s UK marketing agency, Clanma Ltd. “And although it is primarily designed for single use it is perfectly suitable for re-use or recycling.”
The packaging comes in three formats: rigid packaging which is supplied flat and assembled by heat fusion, collapsible packaging, assembled using corner brackets, and trays for storing added value products.
Stevenson says the crates are impervious to water and have neutral thermal properties, making them ideal for use throughout the supply chain. With no need for glueguns or staplers they are easy and safe to handle, and they are impact-resistant and suited to stacking.
He claims they are cost-competitive with conventional forms of packaging, but are 100 per cent recyclable. Nature Pack has received the LIFE award from the European Commission and is also listed as one of Greenpeace’s ‘Friendly Industries’.
While companies across Spain have been using the products for several years, Stevenson says so far wholesale foodservice supplier Pauleys is the only major company to have adopted them in the UK. “I think they are the best kept secret in Europe and I am hoping to get all the major supermarket suppliers to recommend them to their customers.”
MACK BALES OUT FOR EFFICIENCY
For a large operation such as Mack Multiples waste levels are inevitably high but the company has invested significant funds into waste management. Five years ago Mack enlisted the resources of Compact & Bale to install a small baler and has recently invested in new waste management machinery.
“We have worked with Compact & Bale for some years now, so when we decided to invest in new and more efficient waste equipment to help us reduce our costs and improve our operation, they were able to offer us excellent advice and the right equipment for the job,” says Mack Multiples technical director, Jon Usher.
The company has just installed a new fully automatic horizontal baler with off-dock rear feed conveyor, which has replaced the existing semi-automatic baler. This new machine has reduced labour by 50-60 per cent and will save them nearly £27,000 a year.
The addition of the baler marks the completion of a total replacement of Mack’s waste handling equipment, undertaken by Compact & Bale during the past 12 months. The machine automatically generates 450-500kg wire-tied bales from their empty fruit boxes at a rate of around three to four tonnes per hour and these are delivered directly to the company’s yard for off-loading by forklifts.
This enables Mack Multiples to efficiently bale up to 50t of waste cardboard per week for resale for recycling. Rated to IP65 and fitted with rain covers and an oil heater it is installed outside of the loading dock to give maximum working area within the building.
“The money we earn from recycling our packaging pays for us to recycle other items from our waste including office paper and plastic cups. As we only generate small amounts of office waste it would not be financially viable for us to do this without the money we earn from our factory waste,” says Usher.
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