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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.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction: Navigating the Sustainability Transition in Food Packaging: Challenges, Policies and Interdisciplinary Pathways.- Part I: Systems and Sustainability in Transition.- Chapter 2: Sustainability Trade-Offs in Food Packaging: Introducing the Holistic and Functional Sustainability Perspective.- Chapter 3: The Sustainability Transition in Food Packaging: Landscape Pressures Leading to Intra- and Inter-Industry Dynamics.- Chapter 4: Change in the Making: Identifying Multi-Level Barriers and Enablers in the Transition Towards Sustainable Food Packaging.- Chapter 5: Towards More Harmonised Methodology to Compare Environmental Sustainability of Packaging.- Part II: Actors and Practices in Transition.- Chapter 6: Addressing Consumer Perspectives on Sustainable Food Packaging: Insights from The Research Literature.- Chapter 7: The Circular Frontrunners Changing Practices: What Do Food Packaging Manufacturers Do to Accommodate Circular Economy?.- Chapter 8: Opportunity Confidence for Sustainable Packaging.- Chapter 9: Promoting Sustainable Development by Packaging Manufacturers Across the Regulatory Environments of the EU and the USA.- Part III: Innovation in Transition.- Chapter 10: Future Material Solutions for Food Packaging.- Chapter 11:Frugal Innovation: An Alternative Approach to Enhance Sustainability in Packaging.- Chapter 12: Potential and Barriers for Transformative Innovation Policies in Tackling Sustainability Issues of Food Packaging.
About the author
Nina Tynkkynen,is a Professor of environmental governance and policy at Åbo Akademi University in Finland
Henri Hakala, is a Professor in business studies at LUT Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland
Ilkka Leinonen is a Research Professor at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
Vilja Varho is a Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
Maria Åkerman is a Principal Scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Ali Harlin is a Research Professor at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Summary
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.
