A new Australian study has attempted to quantify the role of packaging as a major contributor to tackling food security issues in coming decades.
Commissioned by logistics company CHEP and conducted by RMIT University's Centre for Design, the study, entitled "The role of packaging in minimising food waste in the supply chain of the future", provides figures for the chief sources of food waste in Australia, and identifies key roles that packaging can play in reducing that waste total.
The president of CHEP Australia and New Zealand, Phillip Austin, said the study was prompted by a "knowledge gap" in a Future of Packaging white paper produced last year by the Australian Food and Grocery Council.
Austin said identifying ways to reduce food waste was vital in a world where demand for food is expected to increase by 70 per cent from today's consumption by the middle of the century.
Study leader, RMIT's Dr Karli Verghese, said the research was based on face-to-face and telephone interviews conducted between December 2012 and May this year with key stakeholders from across the supply chain, from farmers to manufacturers and processors, to retailers and food service businesses.
She said the research identified that 4.2 million tonnes of food waste was sent to landfill in Australia each year, costing approximately $10.5 billion in waste disposal charges.
The bulk of this (2.7 million tonnes) was generated by households. Of the remainder, food services generated 661,000 tonnes, food manufacturing 312,000 tonnes, retailing 179,000 tonnes and wholesale distribution 83,000 tonnes.
"While some food waste in the supply chain is inevitable – for example trimmings from fresh produce and preparation waste in manufacturing and food services – other waste is avoidable," Dr Verghese said.
"Our research identified opportunities for improvement where food waste is incurred through things like poor inventory management, overstocking of shelves or product damage during transport and handling."
She said packaging had a vital role in reducing these waste figures and costs.
"Packaging actually plays a critical role in protecting fresh produce and processed food in transit, in storage, at point of sale and prior to consumption. In doing so it helps deliver a wide range of functions while reducing food waste," she said.
She said the study suggests several packaging strategies that could be used to tackle the problem, including:
adoption of distribution packaging that is able to better protect food and produce from farm or manufacturer to retail outlets and consumers; improved design of secondary packaging to ensure it is fit for purpose; adoption of new packaging technologies, including Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) and Oxygen Scouring films to increase shelf life of food; better consumer-focused education on the role of "Use By" and "Best Before" dates; increasing use of retail-ready packaging; adoption of intelligent packaging in the supply chain; and closer collaboration between manufacturers and retailers
She said packaging producers could also tailor more packaging to suit emerging lifestyle trends such as smaller households and a rapidly ageing population.
"We really need smaller serve packs, and packs that are easier to open by the elderly or infirm," Dr Verghese said.
"There are certainly opportunities to minimise food waste through packaging innovation and design, such as improved ventilation and temperature control for fresh produce, and better understanding the dynamics between different levels of packaging, to ensure they are designed fit-for-purpose."
