Sustainable Packaging from Waste Material: A Review …
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To ensure material separation, strong clear labelling is required so that such products
can be easily identified.
Biodegradable packaging are most suitable for domestic and municipal
composting and should be separated from other non-biodegradable packaging and
collected as organic waste at household level for composting. In order to facilitate
composting, an infrastructure must be established to classify biodegradable packaging materials, separate them and to treat them as organic wastes. By using local or
regional composting facilities, the total waste that reaches the landfill can be reduced,
in addition to the reduction in transport cost and associated emissions.
In summary, biodegradable packaging broaden the range of waste management
treatment option over traditional plastics and this is supported by Life Cycle Assessment (Murphy and Bartle 2004). The most favoured end-of-life disposal options
for these materials are domestic and municipal compositing. Methods that are used
recycling of conventional polymers are generally not suitable for biodegradable polymers but the value of the materials may be recovered in the form of useful compost.
Biodegradable polymers can thus make significant contributions to material recovery,
reduction of landfill and utilisation of renewable resources. Widespread public awareness of the material and effective infrastructure for stringent control of certification,
collection, separation and compositing are crucial to materialize the benefits.
The recent technological innovations has led to intelligent packaging where the
packaging system is capable of carrying out intelligent functions such as detecting,
sensing, recording, tracing, communicating and applying scientific logic. This helps
in the decision making regarding the extension of shelf life, enhancement of safety
and quality, provision of information and trouble shooting (Yam and Takhistov
2005; Kerry et al. 2006). Of late, active and smart packaging such as QR-codes,
real-time quality sensors, time-temperature tags and labels or atmospheric gas indicators are used to extend shelf-life of the product and thereby reduce food waste.
This innovations seems to substantially improve the food inventory management and
in turn increases sustainable business operations.
Smart packaging is the new way to address key challenges in food consumption,
environmental sustainability in terms of food and packaging waste and to reduce
the environmental footprint of the packaging industry. As new digital technologies
coupled with the existing packaging methods in terms of its functionality, traceability,
consumer communication, Smart packing technology must coexist towards reaching
the sustainability goal.
In an attempt to reduce paper and plastic waste especially in the ready to eat joints,
edible packaging has become a new trend. However, its creation and use, storage and
shelf life are a great concern specifically in terms of hygiene and logistical issues.
Spoons, cups and plates made of edible material like wheat based dough or biscuits
are in vogue.
Innovations in sustainable packaging aims to address food waste and food material
loss by extending the shelf-life, preserving food quality, as well as meeting food safety
standards issues by preventing health issues.
267
To ensure material separation, strong clear labelling is required so that such products
can be easily identified.
Biodegradable packaging are most suitable for domestic and municipal
composting and should be separated from other non-biodegradable packaging and
collected as organic waste at household level for composting. In order to facilitate
composting, an infrastructure must be established to classify biodegradable packaging materials, separate them and to treat them as organic wastes. By using local or
regional composting facilities, the total waste that reaches the landfill can be reduced,
in addition to the reduction in transport cost and associated emissions.
In summary, biodegradable packaging broaden the range of waste management
treatment option over traditional plastics and this is supported by Life Cycle Assessment (Murphy and Bartle 2004). The most favoured end-of-life disposal options
for these materials are domestic and municipal compositing. Methods that are used
recycling of conventional polymers are generally not suitable for biodegradable polymers but the value of the materials may be recovered in the form of useful compost.
Biodegradable polymers can thus make significant contributions to material recovery,
reduction of landfill and utilisation of renewable resources. Widespread public awareness of the material and effective infrastructure for stringent control of certification,
collection, separation and compositing are crucial to materialize the benefits.
The recent technological innovations has led to intelligent packaging where the
packaging system is capable of carrying out intelligent functions such as detecting,
sensing, recording, tracing, communicating and applying scientific logic. This helps
in the decision making regarding the extension of shelf life, enhancement of safety
and quality, provision of information and trouble shooting (Yam and Takhistov
2005; Kerry et al. 2006). Of late, active and smart packaging such as QR-codes,
real-time quality sensors, time-temperature tags and labels or atmospheric gas indicators are used to extend shelf-life of the product and thereby reduce food waste.
This innovations seems to substantially improve the food inventory management and
in turn increases sustainable business operations.
Smart packaging is the new way to address key challenges in food consumption,
environmental sustainability in terms of food and packaging waste and to reduce
the environmental footprint of the packaging industry. As new digital technologies
coupled with the existing packaging methods in terms of its functionality, traceability,
consumer communication, Smart packing technology must coexist towards reaching
the sustainability goal.
In an attempt to reduce paper and plastic waste especially in the ready to eat joints,
edible packaging has become a new trend. However, its creation and use, storage and
shelf life are a great concern specifically in terms of hygiene and logistical issues.
Spoons, cups and plates made of edible material like wheat based dough or biscuits
are in vogue.
Innovations in sustainable packaging aims to address food waste and food material
loss by extending the shelf-life, preserving food quality, as well as meeting food safety
standards issues by preventing health issues.