Life Cycle Assessment of Food Packaging and Waste - Phase 1: Literature Review and Case Study Descriptions

Abstract

While the modern food industry has always concerned itself with maintaining food safety and quality, the moral imperative of feeding a rapidly growing population, combined with a maturing recognition of the bio-physical planetary limits within which this food must be supplied, has brought acute focus to the problem of food waste. Food packaging has long served a role in protecting and preserving both perishable and shelf-stable foods, but sustainability efforts aimed at reducing the environmental impact of packaging often overlook this critical role. Life cycle assessment of food products typically indicate that the contribution to important environmental indicators from the manufacturing and disposing of packaging materials is often overshadowed by the impacts of producing the food itself. In addition, wasted food –that which is produced but not eaten – can represent a significant fraction of the overall system environmental burden. This presents an important research question: can investments in resources and associated emissions due to increased or improved packaging technologies be justified from an environmental standpoint if they contribute to reductions in food waste? Where do the trade-offs in this relationship occur, and what are the determining parameters? Can such trade-offs be demonstrated with existing food-packaging systems, and what do they teach us about the future role of packaging in further deterring food waste?