How to Make your Food Packaging More Sustainable

Do you package your food products in plastic? Constantly wondering what other environmentally friendly alternatives are available for your items. Not to worry, BiGDUG are here to help with this blog! Food production and the form of containers used for food products have created countless environmental and societal issues. Food companies account for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions and take up over half the world’s agriculture as well. Where those suffering from poverty or homelessness could be living instead. There are ways to solve these issues though, from customers choosing more environmentally aware food companies to businesses using more eco-friendly food packaging, it is possible for the damage caused by food manufacturing to be reduced. So, if you’re unsure of where to start with improving your eco-credentials, this blog will inform you of our favourite advice when it comes to increasing a company’s environmental standing and what plastic alternatives are available.

One way you can ensure that the food packaging you are using is not only helping your business but also the environment is by choosing containers that are 100% compostable, recyclable and biodegradable. This will be beneficial because the disposal of these materials offers an alternative to landfills so will guarantee that the waste from your business is part of the greenhouse gas emission and pollution problem. What’s more, a higher number of consumers are now eco-conscious and so will be searching for food companies that use this environmentally sound packaging, therefore will separate you from your competitors, improve your reputation and increase sales.

When food packaging comes with lots of different components, even if one is clearly made from corrugated cardboard and the rest from plastic, customers can often get confused and improperly dispose of the whole package. Or even worse, during transit, it can become more moulded together and almost impossible for individuals to dissemble even if they wanted to. Making your food containers simpler and lowering the number of materials used ensures that your consumer base will not have a difficult time disposing of their parcels as well as increasing your business’s sustainability.

The more materials that your products use to be protected, the less sustainable the overall package becomes. This is due to the mass production and manufacturing of the packing creating harmful carbon emissions and causing your company to have a larger carbon footprint. To reduce your carbon footprint, you must lower the number of packaging materials that you use.

Plastic packaging that comes from fossil fuels is one of the worst forms of packaging that you can choose to use for your orders. The supply of fossil fuels is already dangerously low, contributes to the World’s pollution levels, and takes hundreds of years to break down and completely decompose. Not only this, but during the breakdown process, the plastic packaging will then form into microplastics which are even harder to break down and can pollute the environment for even longer than regular-sized plastic molecules do. These microplastics can also contaminate our water supplies which are then ingested by both humans and animals.

This alone should be enough to deter you from using plastic for your food packaging, but if not, the new plastic packaging tax might.

Luckily, due to there being such a huge focus on packaging becoming more environmentally sound, there are lots of options for choosing eco-friendly substitutes. Alternatives can include our TempGuard Thermal Liners which are incredibly useful for keeping goods fresh and warm during transit. They have insulating properties, provide cushioning to items, and are secure for sending food products that need to be cared for and kept fresh during transit. Not only this, but they are also made from recycled materials, and are 100% recyclable and degradable! What more could you ask for from eco-friendly food packaging? But like these thermal liners, sustainable packaging materials are no longer hard to find and use for your food.

Cardboard is a strong, secure, and durable form of food packaging. There are countless size and shape options available on the market. It is compostable, recyclable, degradable, and moisture and heat-resistant, making it suitable for a wide variety of applications.

A colossal 71% of consumers within the United Kingdom are more likely to buy food products if they are wrapped in paper or cardboard packaging. Kraft paper is a reliable source for packaging and has all the same eco-friendly properties as corrugated cardboard. It breaks down faster than other materials though as it needs just 12 weeks to completely decompose. It is a strong material that – like cardboard – can withstand high temperatures and moisture.

This substance is a waste product made during sugarcane extraction. Although it isn’t suitable for transporting or storing hot food products, it is more insulating that plastic is freezer-safe, and water and grease-resistant. It can be degraded and composted at home, so is an effective yet eco-friendly form of food packaging.

Non-plastic wrapper alternatives are pretty hard to find in the packaging market however, beeswax wraps are currently the best sustainable replacement to use. Each wrapper is made from 100% natural ingredients and is breathable for all food products. Not only that, but they are also washable, reusable, compostable, and biodegradable!

Similar to using Kraft paper boxes for food, with takeaway items that you would use plastic bags to transport, Kraft paper bags are secure and strong for protecting food dishes whilst having a low environmental impact.

This form of cutlery has become one of the most popular replacements for plastic cutlery. Suitable for both hot and cold foods, it is completely recyclable and biodegradable.

Similarly to wooden cutlery, bamboo is also biodegradable and compostable in commercial settings.

Since single-use plastic straws were banned within the UK, paper straws have taken over the beverage industry. They are a popular choice for being the next best thing to plastic straws. With no interference from humans, they are compostable and can degrade in just 6 months on land and 12 months in the ocean.

Not a lot of people are aware that rice straws are a thing. However, they are incredibly useful as they can last up to 5 hours in a drink, and are commercially compostable and biodegradable within 100 days.

Making your food packaging more eco-friendly can help you have more pride in your business, impress customers, increase sales and profit, as well as improve your eco-credentials. Moreover, it can help cut costs if you are overpacking parcels, alongside lower waste production and your carbon footprint. To buy high-quality eco-packaging, shop with BiGDUG today!