Plastic Packaging, Food Supply, and Everyday Life

Sattlegger, Lukas; Stieß, Immanuel; Raschewski, Luca; Reindl, Katharina

doi:10.3167/nc.2020.150203

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…In the same way, because plastic was considered a non-ecological or synthetic and even harmful packaging material (e.g. Sattlegger et al. , 2020), the informants associated it with synthetic dyes, as illustrated by the following excerpt:If you get a plastic package, the colours are then also synthetic.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Packaging journey from retail to home: how the meaning of sustainability for colour transforms

Sekki

Kauppinen‐Räisänen

Kylkilahti

et al. 2023

IJRDM

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Purpose Research has largely disregarded consumer–packaging interaction in contexts other than retail. Focusing on the powerful cue of colour and consumers’ pleas for sustainability and drawing on the customer journey and moments of consumption, this study investigates how packaging colour meanings are redefined from retail to home and how the meaning of sustainability for colour transforms.Design/methodology/approach A qualitative methodology was employed with 27 informants, who were interviewed in pairs or in small groups of three.Findings First, colour meanings emerge outside the retail context, confirming the idea of the packaging journey. Colours are dynamic, as meanings are redefined throughout the voyage. In retail, colour conveys brand, product, environmental and origin-related meanings, while at home it conveys product, food- and health-related meanings. At the end of the journey, colour communicates disposal, environmental, health and origin-related meanings. Second, the meaning of sustainability for colour transforms during the voyage from being conveyed by a colour hue to being perceived as a material and, therefore, as a waste and recycling concern.Originality/value The study adds insight into the role of colour in the packaging life cycle, wherein colour transforms from a visual packaging cue to an issue of materiality. The recyclability of colours is a prevailing sustainability issue that deserves attention within the packaging industry. The study argues that although the consumer–packaging interaction in the retail context is essential, managers should recognise that the interaction continues with colours from in-store purchase decisions to consumers’ homes (use and recycling).

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Packaging journey from retail to home: how the meaning of sustainability for colour transforms

Sekki

Kauppinen‐Räisänen

Kylkilahti

et al. 2023

IJRDM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To elucidate solution strategies that cover the supply chain of a plastic product, another focus was placed on plastic packaging. Sociologists analyzed the role of plastics in food supply practices (Sattlegger et al 2020;2021a;2021b), chemists evaluated bioplastics as an alternative to conventional plastics , and ecotoxicologists investigated the toxicity of chemicals in both conventional and bioplastics (Zimmermann et al 2019;2020a;.…”

Section: Background Of the Book: Inter-and Multidisciplinary Perspect...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The concept of social practices was based on the study of consumption and environmental change (Røpke 2009;Brand 2011;Shove et al 2012;Sattlegger et al 2020). Given the plurality of approaches, the concept of social practices is used in different ways.…”

Section: Aims and Scope Of The Empirical Study Risk Awareness And Eve...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Living in the Plastic Age

2023

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Plastikmüll ist überall auf unserem Planeten zu finden. Er hinterlässt einen augenscheinlichen Fußabdruck des menschlichen Konsumverhaltens und der Massenproduktion. Unser ungebremster Plastikkonsum und dessen Auswirkungen prägen die gesellschaftlichen Naturverhältnisse in einer so tiefgreifenden Weise, dass wir vom Plastikzeitalter sprechen. Um Ansätze für einen Umgang mit diesem Problem zu entwickeln, müssen wir das Phänomen umfassend verstehen: Die Autor:innen beleuchten es aus interdisziplinärer Perspektive. Sie zeigen, welche Rolle Kunststoffe in unserer Gesellschaft spielen und welche Auswirkungen sie auf die Umwelt und die menschliche Gesundheit haben. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.de

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“…While I recognize the importance of discussing technological improvements for more sustainable packaging, I plead for a focus on "social practices" (Shove, Pantzar, and Watson 2012) as a potential field for sustainable transformations in packaging use. For understanding practicerelated sustainability potentials, we have to better understand the social functions that are inscribed in packaging use (Sattlegger et al 2020).…”

Section: Theoretical Background: Packaging As a Sociological Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The article pleads for a resumption of workplace studies and ethnographic observations of technology-and business-based sustainability issues. An inside view on operational procedures of a supermarket-as a concrete representation of a globalized, differentiated, and efficient marketplace for food-reveals challenges of packaging reduction in the current food supply system (Sattlegger et al 2020). These challenges manifest in attempts to upscale and mainstream zero-waste stores (e.g., bigger stores/more stores), and in transformative efforts to reduce packaging within supermarkets or by food manufacturers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Food Manageable – Packaging as a Code of Practice for Work Practices at the Supermarket

Sattlegger

2020

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

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While packaging-free stores are in the uptake, single-use packaging remains a constitutive element in self-service supermarkets. Portraying packaging as an actor in workplace practices, the article provides novel explanations for the supermarkets’ struggle to reduce packaging. The ethnographic analysis shows that food packaging is crucial for the functioning of supermarkets. This is in contrast to engineering or marketing perspectives on packaging functions that often don’t take practical demands and habitual peculiarities of everyday work practices into consideration. Framed as a code of practice, packaging guides the daily management of food in three crucial ways. First, packaging is a multifunctional medium to present products to customers. Second, packaging is an indicator and transmitter to assess product quantities and qualities in the internal logistics of supermarkets. Third, packaging enables the management and reproduction of representative supermarket qualities like freshness and fullness. As a consequence, and in order to be successful, strategies for the reduction of packaging waste have to better acknowledge the diversity of roles packaging is playing within the framework of workplace practices. Planners of innovation processes need to consider the expertise of workers, the agency of packaging, the situational distribution of action, and the cultural framings of supermarkets.

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Plastic Packaging, Food Supply, and Everyday Life

Cited by 18 publications

References 35 publications

Packaging journey from retail to home: how the meaning of sustainability for colour transforms

Packaging journey from retail to home: how the meaning of sustainability for colour transforms

Living in the Plastic Age

Making Food Manageable – Packaging as a Code of Practice for Work Practices at the Supermarket

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