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Packaging Sustainability - The Role of Packaging in Reducing Food Waste

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2019) | Viewed by 49000

Special Issue Editors

Assoc. Prof. Fredrik Wikström

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering and Chemical Sciences, Karlstad University, SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden
Interests: sustainable development; packaging life cycle assessment; packaging-related food waste; consumer behaviour with packaging and food waste and packaging recycling
Assoc. Prof. Helén Williams

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Karlstad University, SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden
Interests: sustainable development; packaging life cycle assessment; packaging-related food waste; consumer behaviour with packaging and food waste and packaging recycling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to participate in a Special Issue, "Packaging Sustainability—The Role of Packaging in Reducing Food Waste”. Due to a growing global population and increasing difficulties in producing food due to its associated environmental footprint and climate change consequences, the present challenges in securing food supply are expected to become more prominent in the future. The United Nations, as established in Goal 12.3, has set a goal to reduce by half the (currently) 1.3 gigatonnes of edible food wasted annually. This Special Issue focuses on the role of packaging in achieving this goal.

The scope covers broad topics, such as better packaging systems and logistics that reduce food loss and waste in the supply chain, packaging materials that increase shelf life, packaging design that reduces food waste by consumers, design processes, business models, and policies. Trans- and interdisciplinary approaches and points of view are especially welcome.

Estimates of the potential to reduce food waste and considerations of the environmental trade-off between investments in packaging and reduction of food waste will be given special attention. There are scarce data in this field, but some new evaluations or insights will strengthen the submission.

Analyses of obstacles for packaging improvements to reduce food waste, such as economic, legislative, and market, and suggestions for how to overcome or remove these obstacles are also welcome.

Assoc. Prof. Fredrik Wikström
Assoc. Prof. Helén WilliamsGuest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Food waste
  • Packaging
  • Agenda 2030
  • Food LCA
  • Packaging Sustainability

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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37 pages, 2153 KiB  
Article
Tensions and Opportunities: An Activity Theory Perspective on Date and Storage Label Design through a Literature Review and Co-Creation Sessions
by Wanjun Chu, Helén Williams, Karli Verghese, Renee Wever and Wiktoria Glad
Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 1162; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031162 - 6 Feb 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6306
Abstract
On-pack date and storage labeling is one of the direct information carriers used by the food industry to communicate product shelf-life attributes to consumers. However, it is also one of the major factors that contribute to consumer food waste issues. This study aims [...] Read more.
On-pack date and storage labeling is one of the direct information carriers used by the food industry to communicate product shelf-life attributes to consumers. However, it is also one of the major factors that contribute to consumer food waste issues. This study aims to systematically understand the existing tensions within the current date and storage labeling system and explore the potential opportunities for design to intervene. First, we conducted a literature review to identify tensions that the consumer encounters in their food edibility assessment system and summarize the corresponding proposal for actions. 12 tensions and 16 proposals for action were identified and further framed according to a conceptual model developed in this study. Following this, the literature findings were refined and grounded in co-creation sessions in consumer workshops and industry practitioner interviews to develop specific labeling-related design implications. The findings indicate the importance of investigating the role that date and storage labeling play from a system level. Furthermore, we suggest that the conceptual model developed in this study can be used not only as a framework that guides researchers to identify and analyze labeling-related food waste problems that each individual consumer encounters, but also as a guideline that assists packaging design practitioners in exploring potential design opportunities to solve the problem from a system perspective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Packaging Sustainability - The Role of Packaging in Reducing Food Waste)
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16 pages, 983 KiB  
Article
The Importance of Packaging Functions for Food Waste of Different Products in Households
by Fredrik Wikström, Helén Williams, Jakob Trischler and Zane Rowe
Sustainability 2019, 11(9), 2641; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11092641 - 8 May 2019
Cited by 60 | Viewed by 13893
Abstract
The United Nations sustainability goal SDG 12.3 is to reduce the amount of food that is wasted by half, due to environmental and social reasons. This paper aims to analyse the most important packaging functions that affect food waste in households for different [...] Read more.
The United Nations sustainability goal SDG 12.3 is to reduce the amount of food that is wasted by half, due to environmental and social reasons. This paper aims to analyse the most important packaging functions that affect food waste in households for different products, as the reason for wastage can be expected to differ between different products. The reasons for food wastage of different categories and products have been compiled through literature studies, and possible improvements of packaging functions to reduce food waste have been identified. In addition, an expert workshop judged the most important packaging functions to reduce food waste for a number of products. They also discussed the obstacles and possibilities to realise the packaging improvements. This study confirms that how packaging functions influence food waste on the product level is a highly unexplored question. Most likely, there is high potential to reduce food waste through better adaptions of packaging functions to user needs and habits. Both the literature study and the expert workshop show that less food per pack and better information regarding food safety and storage have high potential to reduce food waste, but also that product specific considerations are necessary. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Packaging Sustainability - The Role of Packaging in Reducing Food Waste)
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16 pages, 4099 KiB  
Article
Modeling American Household Fluid Milk Consumption and their Resulting Greenhouse Gas Emissions
by Sebastian K. Stankiewicz, Rafael Auras and Susan Selke
Sustainability 2019, 11(7), 2152; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11072152 - 11 Apr 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5578
Abstract
U.S. consumers are the largest contributors to food waste generation (FWG), but few models have explained how households waste food. This study examines how discrete-event simulation (DES) can identify areas for reducing FWG through packaging and consumer milk consumption behavioral changes. Household model [...] Read more.
U.S. consumers are the largest contributors to food waste generation (FWG), but few models have explained how households waste food. This study examines how discrete-event simulation (DES) can identify areas for reducing FWG through packaging and consumer milk consumption behavioral changes. Household model parameters included: amount and type of consumption, type and number of containers bought, buying behavior, and shelf life of milk. Simulations comparing the purchase of quart, half gallon, and gallon milk containers were run for 10,000 days to identify which package type reduced waste for 50 1, 2 and 4-person households. Based on consumption averages from the U.S. National Dairy Council, results suggest that if 1 and 4-person households change their purchasing behavior from 1 half-gallon to 1 quart and 2 gallons to 3 half-gallons, they can reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from milk consumption by 33% and 12%, respectively, without reducing their total milk consumption. Purchasing enough smaller containers to be equivalent to a larger size decreased spoilage, but not enough to reduce a consumer’s total milk consumption GHG emissions. Results showed that packaging accounts for 5% of the total milk consumption GHG emissions; most of a consumer’s impact comes from milk spoilage and consumption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Packaging Sustainability - The Role of Packaging in Reducing Food Waste)
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Review

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15 pages, 920 KiB  
Review
Packaging-Related Food Losses and Waste: An Overview of Drivers and Issues
by Bernhard Wohner, Erik Pauer, Victoria Heinrich and Manfred Tacker
Sustainability 2019, 11(1), 264; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010264 - 7 Jan 2019
Cited by 123 | Viewed by 22391
Abstract
Packaging is often criticized as a symbol of today’s throwaway society, as it is mostly made of plastic, which is in itself quite controversial, and is usually used only once. However, as packaging’s main function is to protect its content and 30% of [...] Read more.
Packaging is often criticized as a symbol of today’s throwaway society, as it is mostly made of plastic, which is in itself quite controversial, and is usually used only once. However, as packaging’s main function is to protect its content and 30% of all food produced worldwide is lost or wasted along the supply chain, optimized packaging may be one of the solutions to reduce this staggering amount. Developing countries struggle with losses in the supply chain before food reaches the consumer. Here, appropriate packaging may help to protect food and prolong its shelf life so that it safely reaches these households. In developed countries, food tends to be wasted rather at the household’s level due to wasteful behavior. There, packaging may be one of the drivers due to inappropriate packaging sizes and packaging that is difficult to empty. When discussing the sustainability of packaging, its protective function is often neglected and only revolves around the type and amount of material used for production. In this review, drivers, issues, and implications of packaging-related food losses and waste (FLW) are discussed, as well as the implication for the implementation in life cycle assessments (LCA). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Packaging Sustainability - The Role of Packaging in Reducing Food Waste)
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