What's being done to improve food sustainability?

Sustainability is the very process of maintaining and meeting our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

It is not just about the food itself. Sustainability is a combination of factors, including how the food is produced (encompassing the growing, rearing, farming, harvesting and hunting of raw materials), how it's distributed, how it's packaged and how it's consumed. This includes food miles (how far a food has travelled), resource usage (such as water), farming practices (output vs environmental benefits), animal welfare and low environmental impact (minimising waste throughout the whole process).

Of course, consumers becoming more knowledgeable about how their choices affect the environment can certainly help to improve sustainability - for example, reducing the amount of food thrown away, swapping some meat-based meals for vegetable ones, choosing foods that are in season or buying products which have full-recyclable and recycled packaging.

However, manufacturers face the real challenge of being more sustainable whilst retaining the same value, taste and cost that drives many consumers to choose one product over another.

What is happening in the packaging and recycling space?

With a growing desire by consumers to make choices better suited for the environment, more still needs to be done by manufacturers to meet this demand. Research from Deloitte (4) reflects how consumers are taking action to lead a more sustainable lifestyle, with the majority recycling household waste (75 percent), reducing food waste (69 percent) and limiting use of single-use plastic (64 percent).

Consumer information about recycling is also a key theme throughout the report. Asked why they have not adopted a more sustainable lifestyle in the last 12 months, almost half (48 percent) said they needed more information. Similarly, when asked what consumers need to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle, more clarity on how to dispose of and recycle old products (46 percent) was stated, closely followed by clearer information on the sustainability of products and services (38 percent).

In relation to packaging, many are considering multiple approaches and aiming to find a cost-effective alternative to plastics that consumers are happy with and is sustainable or, at the very least, less harmful.

Currently, there needs to be a clear and universal definition of what constitutes sustainable packaging...

Is it that it's recyclable?

Is it that it's manufactured in a sustainable way?

Is it that it can organically decompose?

In order for sustainable packaging - such as plant-based, transparent material - to succeed, it needs to be a commercially viable option for businesses. Often, where increased costs are incurred, these will be passed down to the consumer, which can cause a conflict between affordability and ethical choices - especially with rising costs of living vs the climate crisis. Recent research shows that 52 percent of respondents say cost is a major barrier to adopting a more sustainable lifestyle (5).

Another clear sign that information in the recycling sphere could be improved is shown by WRAP's report as part of Recycle Week (6) - 84% of households are contaminating their recycling through well-intended 'wish recycling'. Glass is the biggest contaminant, with many households mistakenly adding old or broken drinking glasses to their recycling.

How does recycling play a role in sustainability?

Plastic-Free Packaging

In late 2021, Morrisons announced its plan to remove plastic banana bags as part of a 50% reduction of its own brand primary plastic packaging by 2025. It says that as the second most frequently bought fresh product across its outlets, it will reduce 45 million single-use plastic bags - equating to 180 tonnes of plastic (7). It's expected that plastic-free packaging will continue to be seen in retail shops across the UK and EU in the coming year.

Onken, the yoghurt brand, has also removed plastic lids from its Onken Yoghurt pots to reduce the amount of plastic in its packaging. As a result of the change, the company now has to provide different storage instructions on pack - an example of the impact of these changes to manufacturers.

Biodegradable Packaging

Biodegradable packaging and films are suitable replacements for traditional plastic packaging and can be made from plant-based materials, including sugarcane, coconut, hemp and corn starch.

Digital Printing

Modern digital printing has a limited impact on the environment as it eliminates the need for prepress procedures or additional labels, reducing waste and inventory requirements.

Active Packaging

To combat food waste and the incurred losses for companies, active packaging aims to increase the shelf life of a product - for example, using modified atmosphere packaging to keep food fresher for longer and the use of antimicrobial agents to prevent bacterial growth.

Many foods do not need a durability (or use by) indication. While some retailers add them voluntarily, those edging towards a braver approach are choosing to remove the date from products that arguably do not need one - making way for label space that can be better used and allowing the consumer to decide when the product should be disposed of, reducing the amount of food wasted.

Edible Packaging

Some start-ups have come up with new ideas to reduce plastic, including the potential of making some packaging edible, such as spoons, straws and other cutlery items for use in restaurants or takeaway businesses.

Polymeric Materials

Polymers can either be petroleum/fossil-fuel-based or plant-based. One of the most common fossil fuel polymers is plastic - which is inexpensive, lightweight and chemically resistant - and its transparency (and printability) make it an attractive option for businesses. Yet, due to a lack of training and incentives to consumers about how and where to recycle or reuse plastic and its low degradable quality, it's still a significant cause of pollution.

To combat this, manufacturers are increasingly looking to use biopolymers made entirely from renewable sources.

QR Codes

Electronic means of providing product information is gaining ground, particularly in the category of alcohol. However, the sustainability of this process may also be up for discussion - with the additional heat, energy usage and increased electricity to run data storage sites for information such as this; it may only be moving such a problem along.

In December 2021, the European Commission required the mandatory labelling of ingredients and nutrition indication for wines and aromatised wine products by September 2023. More interestingly, this may be on the label or indicated by electronic means such as QR codes.

The potential for product information to appear online as opposed to on or with the packaging of the product is certainly an interesting one. In theory, online information can be adapted and updated quickly, provide additional information to those interested, be adapted for many languages, and be accessed from personal devices.

However, one of the biggest challenges that brands and consumers face is that this electronic approach to providing mandatory food information has yet to be allowed to be the only method of providing the information. There’s a real risk that some consumers, less tech-savvy or unable to access such information, could be left feeling isolated or marginalised with the introduction of digital labelling, which undermines one of the basic premises of food information – the ability for consumers to make an informed choice.

PLA Labels

PLA stands for polylactic acid, a biodegradable polyester derived from renewable sources such as corn starch. PLA looks and feels like petroleum-based plastics but won’t linger for centuries. Although it can’t be recycled, it naturally biodegrades in just 60 days. 

Tree-Free Labels

The demand for paper continues to play a role in the demise of the world’s forests and rainforests. Because of that, many manufacturers choose to use products that mimic paper but don’t have nearly as much impact on the environment. Tree-free labels can be made from bamboo, sugarcane and cotton. ‘Stone paper’, made mostly from calcium carbonate, doesn’t come from plants at all, although it contains a little bit of plastic.

FSC-certified Paper

The non-profit Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) stipulates that “products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environment, social and economic benefits”.

Alternative Inks

Petroleum- and solvent-based inks can release toxic chemicals, known as volatile organic compounds, into the environment. Alternatives based on water and vegetable oils have grown in popularity. However, consideration must be given to how the ink will hold up based on the product’s use and application.

What did our own research uncover?

Earlier this year, we carried out our own research to find out what’s important to consumers and brands. Here are some of the results:

Do you know what each of the UK recycling symbols and logos mean?

Only 40 percent of respondents said they understood the UK recycling symbols and logos, while 34 percent said they understood some and 26 percent said they didn’t know what any of them meant.

Which recycling claims are most important to you?

Unsurprisingly, the most common answer for this was less plastic, with 52 percent, followed by 26 percent looking for less waste claims, 13 percent less impact claims, and 10 percent less water claims. 

Do you trust sustainability claims made on food labels?

Worryingly, 71 percent of respondents said they do not trust sustainability claims made on food labels, meaning that brands have much work to do to gain consumers' trust.

Would you be willing to pay more for a product with more sustainable packaging?

Interestingly, our findings uncovered quite a divide on this front, with just over half of respondents saying they were willing to pay more for more sustainable packaging and 44 percent saying they wouldn’t. We know that sustainability is important to consumers, so this may indicate that some people expect sustainable packaging to be part of the price they usually pay.

What do you think is the biggest barrier to consumers recycling?

The four multi-choice answers all received similar votes, showing a reasonably equal split between the current barriers that consumers face:

1. Lack of schemes or programmes (28%) - potentially a sign of a need for more understanding about existing schemes or clarity in information.
2. Unclear information (28%)
3. Pre-existing behaviours and habits (23%)
4. Inconvenience (21%)

The lack of schemes or programmes received a high vote, suggesting that more education is needed between the industry and consumers, taking into consideration the novelty of sustainability marketing and the need to build frameworks which people trust.

References

4 | Deloitte | How consumers are embracing sustainability | https://www2. deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/sustainable-consumer.html 

5 | Deloitte | How consumers are embracing sustainability | https://www2. deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/sustainable-consumer.html

6 | WRAP Report 2022 | https://wrap.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/84-uk-households-are-unintentionally-contaminating-their-recycling-bins

7| Morrisons Plans | https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/morrisons/morrisons-to-remove-plastic-packaging-from-all-bananas-over-the-next-six-months/659959. article