Plastic use in food packaging could reach "tipping point" in 2019

【Summary Description】 The use of plastics in food packaging will continue in 2019, while companies struggle to move away from the perception of plastics as "waste" and "environmental outcasts. The Wall Street Journal's December 31st Streetwise column, "Plastic Is Food's Next Trouble," called 2019 a "tipping point" when major consumer goods makers such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Nestle "have spoken out against plastic waste, causing top household brand makers to rethink packaging."

       The use of plastics in food packaging will continue in 2019, while companies struggle to move away from the perception of plastics as "waste" and "environmental outcasts. The Wall Street Journal's December 31st Streetwise column, "Plastic Is Food's Next Trouble," called 2019 a "tipping point" when major consumer goods makers such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Nestle "have spoken out against plastic waste, causing top household brand makers to rethink packaging."

  Because of its properties - keeping food fresh, extending shelf life, and providing a barrier from light and oxygen contamination - plastic is too valuable for food processors to give up, especially in the absence of viable alternatives. Attempts to "green" products, such as Coca-Cola's "plant-based bottles," or the use of other bioplastic materials have not been scaled up and remain "niche" applications.

  Other technologies that have gained recent attention include returning used bottles and food containers to a depolymerization company that breaks them down into monomers that can be repolymerized. There are also recycling programs that "reuse" bottles and food containers, but this leaves the big question of whether this is environmentally friendly, given the costs of transporting and sterilizing bottles and containers for refilling.

  Last summer, Karlstad University published an article on the Phys.org website entitled "Starch could replace common plastics in food packaging". The authors claim that eventually, all petroleum-based materials in food packaging will be replaced by bio-based materials. The university's research suggests that "mixtures of starch and other polymers form an equally effective protective barrier" that could be used in paper-based food packaging to prevent water or oxygen from seeping inside the package and damaging the food.

  Finding a good bio-based plastic alternative for food packaging has been the industry's "holy grail" for years. A study at Karlstad University has shown that a mixture of lignin from wood and starch from potatoes or corn can fulfill this function as well as plastic," says researcher Asif Javed. If the new materials are to be used, they need to be at least as good as, if not better than, petroleum-based materials when it comes to extending the shelf life of food, as well as the cost and efficiency of manufacturing and transportation. Although the material is not 100% based on renewable resources, it has the important advantage of degrading naturally without leaving behind dangerous microplastics, which can end up in forests, lakes or oceans."

  Last December, market research report distributor Million Insights published a report on the growth of the global paper packaging materials market. The report noted that by 2022, the paper packaging materials market will "witness significant growth on account of its being an ideal alternative to plastics in packaging and manufacturing." Much of the demand for paper instead of plastic for packaging is due to the biodegradability of paper.

  If major food processors advocate paper packaging and demand polymer or biopolymer coatings that provide a fraction of the benefits of existing plastic packaging, the drive to eventually make all plastic packaging recyclable will be lost!