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POSITIONSTATEMENT 2015
WE ARE FLEXIBLE: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO REDUCE WASTE Giflex commitment to a sustainable future
FEEDING THE PLANET, ENERGY FOR LIFE is the EXPO 2015 theme and it is a unique opportunity for the world to wonder about the future of sustainable food and find long ignored and overdue practical answers to ensure healthy, safe and sufficient food for all while still respecting the environment.
Although enough food is produced to feed the world’s population, 1 in 7 people, which is about 1 billion people, twice the European population, is likely to die from starvation.1
Giflex, aware of ‘active’ role of packaging in today’s food industry, is making a concrete contribution to a synergistic debate that involves all food sector stakeholders (institutions, industry, and distribution to the end consumer).
This document sheds light on the main packaging myths. It emphasizes the important role of flexible packaging which can prevent resources being wasted, where contemporary diet is designed to promote a sustainable future for everyone.
Dott. Michele GualaGiflex President
GIFLEX, FLEXIBLE PACKAGING GROUP
Giflex, Flexible Packaging Group, is the Association of Italian manufacturers of flexible packaging, intended for food, pharmaceutical, chemical and other industrial applications..
Established in 1985, it consists of 35 processing companies and 50 supporting members who represent the companies’ suppliers of raw materials, processing machinery and services, Giflex is associated with the FPE (Flexible Packaging Europe) division of EAFA (European Aluminium Foil Association) at European level.
Giflex is dedicated to the enhancement of flexible packaging and is aware of the fundamental role of packaging in the food industry, it has long promoted a reduced environmental impact from packaging and supported initiatives to raise awareness on this issue. These have involved the entire supply chain, from producers to consumers.
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FOOD LOSS AND FOOD WASTE: AN IMPRESSIVE AMOUNT OF LOST FOOD
1
To clarify: food loss is defined when food is wasted during the production, post-harvest, transport and processing. Waste food is related to food left over at the end of the production chain, during distribution, sale and house storage.1
In 2014 more than 100 million tons of food was thrown away in Europe. This is expected to rise to 120 million tons by 2020 (+ 20%), if the situation is unchanged.2
In developing countries food losses are due mainly to a lack of infrastructure, inadequate transport and distribution, for a cold chain and almost entirely absent packaging.In industrialized countries the amount of waste is impressive: in the last supply chain stages more than 40% of food is thrown out,1 this is mostly
because of poorly organised purchases, best before dates ignored, leftover food unconsumed, packaging too big or difficult to empty.Globally, these losses amounted to nearly $1,000 billion annually and this is only taking into account the direct costs.4
While considering the ecological effect of food waste, lost resources, such as water, soil and climate change, it is shocking:5
• The water needed to produce food and then wasted is about three times the size of Lake Geneva in Switzerland and the annual flow of the river Volga.• The Soil used corresponds to an area greater than the combined area of Canada and India, • The amount of CO2 emitted to produce the lost food is more than twice the volume of emissions for road transport in the US in 2010.
Each year globally approximately 30-50%of food is lost or wasted, amounting toabout 1.3 billion tons of food.1,3
10% 10%
25%33%North America
33%Oceania
Europe and Russia
Latin America
5%
SubsaharaAfrica
12% 12%West & Central Asia
12% 12%North Africa
7%South & Southeast Asia
20%
Industrialized Asia
7
The highest consumption waste occurs in industrialised countries particularly for the most perishable food items.
About 30% of grain, 40-50% of fruit and vegetables, 20% of oilseeds, meat and dairy products and 30% of fish productsare wasted.1
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THE FOOD PACKAGING: A KEY ROLE FOR NUTRITION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
2
Without packaging, we could not live as we are accustomed.
Packaging performs numerous functions: it protects food during all stages of the supply chain, it preserves the nutritional quality, provides useful information for its proper storage and expiry date and improves the consumer usability.
KEY ALLY AGAINST WASTE: PACKAGED FOOD vs UNPACKAGED
The food packaging is essential to avoid product losses throughout the supply chain.The distance between the production sites, distribution channels and consumers often involves lengthy food transportation. If unpackaged, food wouldn’t reach its destination safely, intact and suitable for consumption. The time lag between production and consumption is becoming more stretched. It is essential that the shelf life of food is prolonged, such as during the sale.
Here are some great examples of English distribution: 7
• Using trays with foil for grapes and bags for potatoes reduced the amount of product lost before reaching the consumer by 20% and 30%;
• Vegetables rich in water, such as cucumbers, sold unpackaged quickly lose their moisture and become unsaleable within three days, but with only 1.5 g of wrap it remains fresh for 14 days.
In developing countries, if transported without packaging, only 50% of food arrives at its destination.6
Packaged salads contain 3
or 4 varieties of pre-washed
vegetables, cut and packed
in a flexible packaging with
modified atmosphere capable
of keeping the leaves fresh for
several days.
To get the same mix, the
consumer who buys the
bulk salads must purchase
approximately 11 times more,
with a quadrupled cost and a
waste production from five to
10 times higher.7
9
€
€x 5
10
European foods and beverages consumption is responsible for 20- 30% of the total environmental impact, while the food packaging represents only 1-10%.11
FOOD PACKAGING: PERCEPTION vs REALITY
There are numerous and widespread misperceptions about food packaging: here are the main ones.
FALSE MYTH n. 1 • Packaging is rarely recycled
Almost 60% of the packaging is recycled, according to the relevant national legislation. Non-recyclable materials can also be used in waste to energy8 projects.In recent years, European legislation has been particularly attentive to the issues of recycling and proper waste disposal.Unfortunately the initiatives have moved the focus of public attention, away from the fundamental issue of the close relationship between optimum packaging and food waste. To properly assess the food packaging environmental impact it is essential to analyse the entire food cycle. Packaging should not be seen separately from the food, but as an integral part that reduces product losses.
11
Household waste represents about
10% of the total waste, food
packaging less than 3%.7
FALSE MYTH n. 2 • Packaging has one of the highest global environmental impacts
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA ) studies, show that half of the energy is used in food production, up to 10% for packaging (about 6.5% and 3.5% primary packaging secondary or tertiary packaging), the 10% for transport and distribution and the remaining 30% is used by consumers when shopping, domestic storage and food preparation.Therefore, the optimum choice of the packaging, while not directly influencing the other phases, means that the remaining 90% of the resources is not used and wasted unnecessarily.9
The carbon footprint of many foods appears to be 20, 100 and 200 times higher than the corresponding packaging. It is necessary to invest in packaging technological innovation, because it reduces food waste.10
FALSE MYTH n. 3 • The packaging is most of the waste
Reduction and management of municipal and non-municipal waste represents an increasingly important element in individual countries’ public policies.The European Union produces about 2.3 billion tonnes of waste per year, of which about 10% (250 million tonnes) is municipal waste and the remaining 90% from special waste.12
.
12
FLEXIBLE PACKAGING: EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE
3
A recentes published study shows that the vitamin C in fresh apricots stored at room temperature for 12 days, is much higher if the fruit is packed in a flexible packaging with modified atmosphere (+ 25% compared to non-packaged fruit).13
Among the different types of food packaging, flexible packaging is the one that embodies the best protection for food and least consumption of resources. This is possible thanks to the considerable versatility in the choice of materials that make it excellent for different types of food.
PROTECTIVE EVEN FOR THE MOST SENSITIVE NUTRIENTS
Flexible packaging optimally preserves food quality.Choosing the right multilayer material ensures a significant preservation of food sensory and nutritional quality by using flexible packaging.
For example vitamin C is nutritious but extremely perishable, several studies show that flexible packaged beverages maintain vitamin levels almost unchanged over long periods.
MORE FOOD LESS PACKAGING
To protect foods a minimum amount of flexible packaging material is required compared to other solutions. This makes the solution light.
This means that during transport, the energy and resources are used to move foods rather than packaging.In the case of fruit juices, the flexible packaging represents approximately 10% while the drink is 90% of the weight transported. Using other solutions the packaging reaches up to 50% .14
With packaged, ground coffee, flexible packaging allows a weight ratio of food to packaging of approximately 29: 1. With other packaging the ratio could be as high as 3: 1.14
13
Excluding drinks, 40% of the food packaging is flexible. Choosing flexible for all packaged products means that it would be possible annually to:• Reduce the materials
consumed by 80%,15
• Decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 42 million tons equal to about 40% of what was produced by London city in 2010, 16
• Save more than 270 million m3 of water.15
SUSTAINABLE
The fact that flexible packaging is so light, means that it uses less resources than other types ofpackaging even if they are recyclable.In the case of drinks, this type of packaging uses about half the energy and generates 75% lessCO2 emissions compared to other packaging.11
14
CONCLUSIONS4REFERENCES
1. FAO, 2011. Global food losses and food waste. Extent, causes and prevention.
2. European Commission, 2014. Stop Food Waste.3. FAO, IFAD and WFP, 2014. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2014.
Strengthening the enabling environment for food security and nutrition. Rome, FAO.
4. FAO, 2014. Food Wastage Footprint, Full-cost accounting.5. FAO 2013. Food Wastage Footprint, Impacts on Natural Resources.6. Lundqvist, J., C. de Fraiture and D. Molden. Saving Water: From Field to
Fork – Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chain. SIWI Policy Brief. SIWI, 2008.
7. Advisory Committee on Packaging, 2008. Packaging in Perspective. 8. Eurostat, 2008. Packaging waste statistics.9. RMIT University, 2013. Final report: the role of packaging in minimising
food waste in the supply chain of the future.10. Wikström and Williams, 2010. Potential Environmental Gains from
Reducing Food Losses Through Development of New Packaging – A Life-Cycle Model. Packaging Technology and Science; 23:403-411.
11. Silvenius et al. The role of household food waste in comparing environmental impacts of packaging alternatives. Packaging Technology and Science;27:277-292.
12. Ruggiero D, 2013. I rifiuti in Europa: produzione e trattamento dei rifiuti nei paesi dell’Unione Europea.
13. Ali et al., 2015. Influence of Packaging Material and Ethylene Scavenger on Biochemical Composition and Enzyme Activity of Apricot Cv. Habi at Ambient Storage. Food Science and Quality Management;35:73-82.
14. FPE, 2011. The perfect fit.15. FPE, 2014. Toward a resource efficient Europe.16. The British Standards Institution 2014. Application of PAS 2070 – London,
United Kingdom. An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions of a city.
In its 19 January 2012 resolution, the European Parliament stated that ‘... the reduction of food waste is an important preliminary step in the fight against world hunger...’ and that ‘food waste has consequences not only ethical, economic, social and nutritional but also health and environmental.’ It underlined that the ‘...optimal quality and efficient use of food packaging can play an important role in preventing food waste by reducing the overall environmental impact of the product‘.
It is undesirable to imagine a world without food packaging, but instead to always choose the best packaging for each food in terms of performance and environmental sustainability. To prevent and reduce food waste and counteract the depletion of precious natural resources, it is necessary to promote a peaceful and impartial debate between industry, retailers and distribution. This is needed to expand the knowledge and awareness of those involved, particularly consumers and to promote technological innovation for increasingly efficient packaging solutions for human health and the environment.
