The main discussion at the 246th National meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society is the struggle to create green food packaging. “We face a huge challenge in developing new packaging materials that protect food all through the supply chain while being recyclable, compostable, produced with renewable energy or even edible,” said Sara Rich, PH.D who spoke at the meeting. She also said new packaging must meet sustainability standards without sacrificing security, freshness and visibility of the food.
According to industry data, the use of sustainable packaging redirected about 1.5 billion pounds of paper, plastic and other packaging material from entering landfills from 2005 to 2010 in the United States. A large part of this is due to growing consumer awareness of the environment. Plastic wrap, cardboard boxes and other food packaging attribute to one-third of the 250 million pounds of waste generated in the United States annually.
To read the entire article, click the link below
http://www.foodproductdesign.com/news/2013/09/the-future-of-sustainable-packaging.aspx
Source: Food Product Design