Environmental viewpoints focusing on packaging waste made it useful to investigate the contribution of packaging to the food product system. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can provide comprehensive environmental information about the whole product life cycle system. LCA studies of some food product categories, i.e., milk, yogurt, fish, fruits, meat, and grain, that included the packaging within the system boundaries were selected and reviewed. A summary of the global warming potential (GWP) and energy consumption (EC) revealed that the contribution of packaging was maximum at 25% and 35%, respectively. The factors influencing the difference of the contribution across different food product categories were the type of food product raw material (plant-based and animal-based products), the degree of processing after crop production, and the complexity of the packaging material and the packaging related processes. The limited contribution of packaging implies that improvements that focus on reducing packaging waste would benefit only a minimal portion of whole system. The concern about the situation of global food loss and waste together with massive environmental contributions from the food related life cycle stages indicates the opportunity of packaging to help improve the environmental performance of the product system by reducing such loss and waste. The potential solution includes: 1) packaging design and technology to extend the food product shelf life, 2) packaging that prevents physical damage to the food product, 3) packaging that fits the current demography and lifestyles, and 4) a standardized date labeling system. Knowledge, innovative technology and material, additional cost as well as the collaboration of all stake holders in the supply chain are needed to implement any changes. The marginal environmental efficiency that could be improved was expected to compensate for the change.
Read
