Packaging Strategies That Save Food: A Research Agenda for 2030

Wikström, Fredrik; Verghese, Karli; Auras, Rafael; Olsson, Annika; Williams, Helén; Wever, Renee; Grönman, Kaisa; Pettersen, Marit Kvalvåg; Møller, Hanne; Soukka, Risto

doi:10.1111/jiec.12769

Cited by 125 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(76 reference statements)

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“…Thus, the desire to eat fresh food also represents a prominent reason for food being wasted. In this regard, packaging innovation and new packing materials are crucial in order to extend product freshness, shelf-life and reduce wasteful behaviour [45]. As a consequence, public policies supporting investments for research and development in this field should be strengthened.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Food Waste: A Case Study in Southern Italy

et al. 2020

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To achieve the goal of reducing consumer-related food waste in developed countries, it is necessary to have an in-depth understanding of the factors shaping food waste, both in the household as well as at the point of purchase. Despite a growing number of studies on the subject, especially in recent years, the evidence on drivers of food waste and barriers to its reduction is somewhat conflicting. The current paper contributes to existing knowledge on food waste behaviour at the consumer level, providing original results from a direct survey conducted with a sample randomly selected in southern Italy to reveal consumer awareness, concerns and intentions towards food waste and to ascertain the existence of different consumer profiles with similar food waste behaviour. Since southern Italian regions have been shown to produce lower levels of food waste than regions in northern Italy, an in-depth analysis of the drivers behind food waste in this area could be considered an interesting case study. Our findings showed the existence of several consumer behaviour profiles that influenced household food waste generation. Strategies to reduce waste should take such differences into account in order to promote changes in food waste behaviour.Sustainability 2020, 12, 1495 2 of 13 the household level make it difficult for commercial actors as well as policy makers to develop effective food waste reduction campaigns [6].In order to reduce food waste in developed countries, it is necessary to gain an in-depth understanding of the factors determining food waste at the consumer level, both in the household as well as at the point of purchase. Identified social drivers connected to consumer behaviour and lifestyles are related to (a) unconscious preferences, such as preferences for certain aesthetic standards or food types, that can be difficult to modify; (b) individual behaviour that may be modifiable through information and strengthened awareness; and (c) sociodemographic factors [3,4,7].Regarding individual behaviour, consumers' routines related to shopping and consumption constitute one of the main drivers of food waste, such as food overprovisioning during shopping, overpreparation and incorrect storage [8]. Among the causes identified for overprovisioning, the literature includes bulk purchases but also marketing and sales strategies implemented by producers and retailers [7,9]. Extensive research shows that communication strategies as well as promotional offers have a considerable negative effect on individual wasteful behaviour, prompting consumers to buy more than actually needed [5,[10][11][12]. Other studies have highlighted that individual wasteful behaviour is also driven by factors related to current legislation or policy. Misinterpretation of date labels, for example, or lack of understanding and following labelling instructions for proper storage are recognised as prominent drivers [4,5]. Previous studies showed that European consumers seem to be very confused and show difficulty in interpreting the actual meanin...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Food Waste: A Case Study in Southern Italy

et al. 2020

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“…In this study, we describe such act of enhancing or increasing packaging functionalities as packaging functionalization. The literatures include examinations of the trade‐offs between the benefits of packaging functionalization and the increased environmental impact from packaging production (Licciardello, ; Wikström et al., ). For instance, modified atmosphere packaging extends shelf life, but a certain percentage of the environmental impacts were found to be cancelled out by the increased impacts from packaging functionalization (Conte, Cappelletti, Nicoletti, Russo, & Del Nobile, ; Gutierrez, Meleddu, & Piga, ; Zhang et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With regard to the relationship between packaging and consumer behavior, Wikström and colleagues () and Silvenius and colleagues () indicated a notable potential of the packaging to reduce FLW from households. Clarifying the potential of packaging functionalization on different combination of food and consumers is noted as one vital topic to accelerate progress in FLW reduction (Wikström et al., ). One contribution in this respect was made by Yokokawa and colleagues ().…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental analysis of packaging‐derived changes in food production and consumer behavior

Yokokawa

Kikuchi‐Uehara

Amasawa

et al. 2019

J of Industrial Ecology

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This study analyzed the environmental impacts of packaging‐derived changes in food production and consumer behavior to assist packaging designers in making environmentally conscious decisions. Packaging can be functionalized to prevent food loss and waste (FLW), for example, extending the expiration date and apportioning the package size, but it can generate additional environmental impacts from changes in food and packaging production. Previous studies assessed additional impacts from packaging production; however, the effects of packaging functionalization are yet to be connected with food production and consumer behavior. To examine the effect of functionalization on these aspects, we analyzed packaging‐derived changes in food production for milk and cabbage products. The case study compared products with functionalized packaging that permits a longer expiration date or a smaller portion size to their base‐case products. Our results showed that the packaging‐derived changes increased the global warming potential (GWP) of food production more than other processes did. Thus, changes in food production weakened the effectiveness of the packaging functionalization to decrease the GWP. Moreover, the analysis of consumer behavior scenarios showed that consumers’ perception of the expiration date decisively influences the effectiveness of packaging functionalization. When consumers discarded food after the expiration date, provided they consumed in small quantities, the packaging functionalization reduced FLW. From the scenario analysis, we identified appropriate combinations of packaging functionalization and consumer behaviors to effectively decrease total GWP. With our expanded analysis, packaging designers can understand the effectiveness of their decisions on the product life cycle in reducing FLW and environmental impacts.

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“…While waste management‐related research tends to focus on packaging prevention, packaging and food research demonstrates the environmental benefits of packaging solutions that prevent food waste . In addition, there are research initiatives to further develop the knowledge base about the role of packaging to prevent food waste . At the same time, packaging logistics research highlights the importance of improving packaging to increase logistical eco‐efficiency .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…10,11 In addition, there are research initiatives to further develop the knowledge base about the role of packaging to prevent food waste. 12 At the same time, packaging logistics research highlights the importance of improving packaging to increase logistical eco-efficiency. 13 Several tools and models for the environmental optimization of packaging have been suggested, e.g., 14,15 but an integrated evaluation of product-packaging combinations is rare.…”

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confidence: 99%

A simplified environmental evaluation tool for food packaging to support decision‐making in packaging development

Molina-Besch

Pålsson

2020

Packag Technol Sci

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Packaging developers in the food industry must consider several, sometimes conflicting, environmental requirements on packaging along with an already complex combination of marketing, logistics and production requirements. Existing methods for the environmental evaluation of packaging either focus on a limited amount of environmental packaging criteria (such as recyclability or renewable content) or rely on life cycle assessment methodology requiring expert competence. To support the food industry in their efforts toward developing product and packaging combinations that reduce the total environmental impact in food supply chains, this article presents a simplified environmental evaluation tool for food packaging. The presented tool was developed through an iterative process in a collaborative research project with the food industry. It evaluates packaging systems based on packaging criteria sorted into four areas that represent the life‐cycle steps packaging material production, transport, household and end‐of‐life. A comparison of the tool results and screening LCA results for three packaging cases showed no major differences. From the practitioners' perspective, the main advantages of the suggested tool are that it does not require LCA‐competence, that the required input data is commonly available in packaging development projects and that its overall structure invites several functions of the company to participate. The theoretical benefits of the suggested tool are that it allows for a parallel assessment of eco‐efficiency and eco‐effectiveness criteria in a life cycle perspective and that it considers littering risk as well as the influence of packaging on food waste in households

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Packaging Strategies That Save Food: A Research Agenda for 2030

Cited by 125 publications

References 44 publications

Household Food Waste: A Case Study in Southern Italy

Household Food Waste: A Case Study in Southern Italy

Environmental analysis of packaging‐derived changes in food production and consumer behavior

A simplified environmental evaluation tool for food packaging to support decision‐making in packaging development

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