The 11th Food Packaging Forum (FPF) workshop “Achieving safe and sustainable food packaging: Where are we now?” took place in Zürich, Switzerland on September 28, 2023. Over 150 participants joined in person and online. This article summarizes the afternoon presentations and discussion panel sharing case studies from the real world that illustrate how to respond to complex challenges and work towards safer and more sustainable food packaging. Recordings of the presentations are available online. There is an additional article focusing on the morning sessions on defining and measuring safety and sustainability as well as examples of putting science into policy.
Three talks from representatives of companies and retailers explained their approaches to innovate food packaging, make it safer, reduce it’s use. Another two talks focused on reusable food packaging which was also a key topic addressed by the discussion panel.
Business approaches to respond to the safety and sustainability challenges – Case studies from the real world
Lynn Grega from Sherwin-Williams, a company that develops and delivers paint and coatings products shared the company’s approach to innovating can coatings to make them more safe and sustainable. She explained that nearly every can sold is coated with some type of protective or decorative coating on the in- and outside providing a barrier between the product and the metal container.
To reach a toxic-free society, as aimed for in the European Green Deal (FPF reported), the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (FPF reported) sets out the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) chemicals and materials approach (FPF reported). According to Grega, even before these developments Sherwin-Williams was proactively developing new can coatings to minimize chemical risks and avoid regrettable substitutions by applying an SSbD approach. Grega shared that they implement SSbD by staying up-to-date on the scientific literature to identify new coating materials and then investigating these materials e.g., regarding chemicals they are reported to contain. In case of missing data the company tests for endocrine activity and also performs migration analysis.
The speaker further highlighted that Sherwin-Williams is sharing their methodologies and outcomes when allowed by law with interested parties in a transparent manner, and is open to collaborations and suggestions. At the end of her talk, Grega exemplified their process in the case study of valPure V70, part of their work to transition away from bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7; FPF reported). The Sherwin-Williams design team identified tetramethyl bisphenol-F (TMBPF; CAS 5384-21-4) as a safe alternative (FPF reported). TMBPF is structurally different from other bisphenols and by now one of the most researched food contact chemicals. After more than one decade the company got this alternative successfully approved around the world.
Micael Müller, Migros Industrie, provided insights into how Migros Industrie innovates packaging and non-packaging approaches to sustainability. He started by pointing out the three points where consumers get in touch with the packaging (choosing, using, and disposal) – and the three functions packaging needs to fulfill from the company’s perspective (protecting products, improving consumer experience, and resource efficiency).
Subsequently, Müller gave examples of Migros’ work. Concerning the business’ targets to optimize and reduce single-use packaging, he reported that through packaging redesign and selling cleaning concentrates, “in the last three years we saved round about 7000 tons of materials for a large [array] of products.” Furthermore, on 3500 products Migros indicates a packaging sustainability score directly on the packaging item. To evaluate these products, Migros used M-Check, a web-based tool that helps assess the environmental impact of packaging. Other approaches Müller mentioned included the company’s initiatives to recycle materials (consumers can bring back certain plastic packaging products for recycling) as well as to refill and rethink materials. According to the slides, 90% of customers are willing to refill and “we already have round about 75,500 Zero Waste customers” that use the dry-food refilling options available at some larger Migros stores.
Maricel Marin-Kuan from Nestlé came back to the question of how to assess food packaging for safety. In her talk, she outlined the company’s approach to assessing non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) in food packaging by combining bioassays with chemical analytics. The speaker explained the role of bioassays in packaging safety. The assays can be performed without determining the identity of all the chemicals present in the packaging which can facilitate testing chemical mixtures (FPF reported, also here).
To evaluate FCMs, Nestlé investigates the raw materials and performs migration and extraction experiments as well as bioassays to test for genetic damage and endocrine activity, Marin-Kuan explained. She continued that bioassays are combined with chemical analysis to potentially identify the effect-causing chemicals. To optimize the identification of substances that are of concern because they have certain hazardous properties, Nestlé has also tested and successfully applied an effect-directed analysis approach by coupling bioassays with high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC). This approach has previously been presented by scientists from the Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology (FPF webinar). Marin-Kuan concluded that applying “HPTLC to the bioassays is very promising. We can facilitate the identification of compounds potentially responsible for toxicological concern. And in the study we were able to demonstrate that we can detect mutagenic compounds… and this will be very helpful if we want to apply the threshold of toxicological concern.”
Together with other researchers, the speaker published a guidance to assess the safety of food packaging coatings in February 2023 (FPF reported).
Transitioning from single-use to reusable packaging
Anastasia Kiku, reusables.com, illustrated how resuable.com is putting reusable food packaging into action. In her talk, she explained that resuable.com is a service platform for businesses and consumers with the main aim of making reuse seamless by using already available infrastructure. Consumers do not need to download any apps or sign up before first use, they simply need to use a credit card. According to Kiku, the digital infrastructure allows putting the circular economy into practice by enabling businesses to track reusable packaging and its sustainable impact.
Launched in 2021, the company currently has over 100 business clients, has diverted over 10 tons of waste, and has recorded more than 150,000 containers reused with a 98.5% return rate.
Kiku shared her thoughts on how to make reuse the default. She mentioned the importance of changing the infrastructure, which is currently not made for reuse. Furthermore, a seamless user experience is key for transition, for instance avoiding financial and psychological burdens on the consumer as done if paying a deposit. Reusables.com is rewarding consumers for reuse, Kiku explained, which seems to work as the 98.5% return rate demonstrates.
In her talk, Dagny Tucker, Vessel Works and Perpetual, also focused on reuse discussing opportunities and challenges for transforming food packaging. She pointed out that dozens of reuse systems have been operating around the world – some of which more than ten years – showing that reusable foodware systems are possible. But “why has it not been scaled?” Tucker asked. The reasons she provided are that for linear single-use packaging, systems exist and run, that there are no established governance models, and that is difficult to achieve convenience at affordable costs.
To make the change towards reuse it is critical to ensure that policy, legislation treaties, etc. prioritize a systems approach to reuse system design. Another essential need, Tucker highlighted, is tools based on science and storytelling to make healthy, safe, sustainable materials choices. She emphasized reuse systems have the greatest potential to reduce plastic pollution when compared to source reduction and material substitution.
Safe and sustainable food packaging – How to get there?
In a 45-minute panel discussion, Fernando Rodriguez-Mata (New ERA), Siân Sutherland (A Plastic Planet), Clémence Schmid (LOOP), and Anastasia Kiku (reusables.com) discussed the challenges and key learning on how to get to safe and sustainable food packaging, based on their own experiences. The panel discussed for instance challenges of putting reuse into practice, ideas to initiate behavioral change on the consumer, but also on the business and policy side, and shared their top 3 products and material types.
References
Lynn Grega (September 28, 2023). “Safety by design: Roadmap to innovate, safe and sustainable coating technologies.” YouTube.
Micael Müller (September 28, 2023). “Implementation of innovative packaging & non-packaging approaches at Migros Industrie.” YouTube.
Maricel Marin-Kuan (September 28, 2023). “Assessing NIAS in food packaging – Combining bioassays and chemical analytics.” YouTube.
Anastasia Kiku (September 28, 2023). “Reusable food packaging in action: the case of resuable.com.” YouTube.
Dagny Tucker (September 28, 2023). “Setting the scene for reuse: opportunities and challenges for transforming food packaging.” YouTube.
Panel discussion (September 28, 2023). “Safe & sustainable food packaging: how do we get there?” YouTube.
