The document discusses food packaging and its effects on the environment. It describes the different types of packaging (primary, secondary, tertiary) and common packaging materials like glass, aluminum, paperboard, and plastics. It addresses the advantages and disadvantages of different materials from both a consumer and environmental perspective. The document also discusses solutions like reducing unnecessary packaging, designing packaging to be reusable or recyclable, and following the three R's hierarchy of reduce, reuse and recycle to minimize environmental impacts.

1. FOOD PACKAGING AND ITS
EFFECT ON ENVIRONMENT
BY ZUHAIB
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2. PACKAGING
• Packaging is the science, art and technology of
enclosing or protecting products for distribution,
storage, sale, and use.
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3. OBJECTIVES OF PACKAGING
• Physical protection
• Chemical protection
• Containment
• Tempering resistance
• Convenience
• information about food
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4. PACKAGING TYPES
• Primary packaging is the material that first envelops the
product and holds it. This usually is the smallest unit of
distribution or use and is the package which is in direct
contact with the contents.
• example a type of packaging that directly encloses the
product, such as a small bottle or a can for soft and fizzy
drinks.
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5. • Secondary packaging is outside the primary packaging –
perhaps used to group primary packages together
• example, the plastic packaging around 6 bottles of soft or
fizzy drink.
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6. • Tertiary packaging is used for bulk handling ,
warehouse storage and transport shipping. The most
common form is a palletized unit load that packs tightly
into containers.
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7. Different types of food packages and
containers
Primary Can of tomato soup cans
Primary Carton of eggs, milk or
juice cartons
cartons
secondary Corrugated box of primary
packages
Boxes
secondary box of cereal cartons,
frozen pizzas
boxes
tertiary A series of boxes on a
single pallet used to
transport from the
manufacturing plant to
a distribution center
pallets
tertiary Used to wrap the boxes on
the pallet for transport
wrappers

8. Packaging material properties, consumer and
environmental issues, and cost
• Glass
• Aluminum
• Tinplate
• PVC
• Polyester
• Paper board
• Laminates

9. Glass
• Advantages
• Impermeable to moisture and gases
• Nonreactive (inert)
• Withstands heat Processing
• Reusable
• Recyclable
• Disadvantages
• Brittle and breakable
• Needs a separate
• Closure
• Heavy and bulky to transport

10. Aluminium
• Advantages
• Impermeable to moisture and gases
• Resistant to corrosion
• Withstands heat processing
• Recyclable
• Lightweight
• Economic incentive to recycle
• Disadvantages
• Cannot be welded
• Limited structural strength•
• No disadvantages in rigid form
• Separation difficulties in laminated form

11. Tinplate
Advantages
• Impermeable
• Strong and formable
• Resistant to corrosion
• Withstands heat processing
• Recyclable
• Magnetic, thus easily separated
• Disadvantages
• Can react with foods coating required
• Heavier than aluminium
• Typically requires a can opener to access product

12. Paper & paperboard
• Advantages
• Very good strength-to-weight
• Characteristics
• Made from renewable resources
• Recyclable
• Easily decorated
• Efficient, low-cost protection
• Disadvantages
• Moisture sensitive,
• loses strength with increasing humidity
• Tears easily
• Poor barrier to light
• Recycled content makes it unsuitable for food contact material

13. Polyvinylchloride
• Advantages
• Mouldable
• Resistant to chemicals
• High clarity
• Recyclable
• inexpensive
• Disadvantages
• Contains chlorine
• Requires separating from other waste

14. Tin-free steel
• Advantages
• Strong
• Good resistance to corrosion
• Withstands heat Processing
• Recyclable
• Magnetic, thus easily separated
• Cheaper than tinplate
• Disadvantages
• • Difficult to weld, requires removal of coating
• Cheaper than tinplate
• Typically requires a can opener to access product

15. Polyolefin's
• Advantages
• Good moisture barrier
• Strong
• Resistant to chemicals
• Recyclable
• High-energy source for incineration
• Low cost
• disadvantages
• Poor gas barrier
• Easily recycled in semi-rigid form,
but identification and separation more
difficult for films

16. Polyester
• Advantages
• Strong
• Withstands hot filling
• Good barrier properties
• High clarity and Shatter resistant
• Recyclable
• Disadvantages
• identification and separation more difficult for films
• higher cost among plastics

17. Polyvinylidene chloride
• Advantages
• High barrier to moisture and gases
• Heat sealable
• Withstands hot filling
• Maintains product quality
• Recyclable
• Disadvantages
• Contains chlorine
• Requires separating from other waste
• Inexpensive, but higher cost among plastics

18. Ethylene vinyl alcohol
• Advantages
• High barrier to gases and oils/fat
• Maintains product quality for oxygen sensitive Products
• Recyclable
• Disadvantage
• Requires separating from other waste
• Low moisture barrier,
• moisture sensitive

19. Laminates
• Advantages
• Properties can be tailored for product needs
• Flexibility in design and characteristics
• Often allows for source reduction
• Disadvantages
• Layer separation is required
• Relatively expensive

20. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
• Package thickness
• Packaging materials differ in thickness. The
thinner the packaging material, the less
landfill space it will take up, thin materials for
wrapping such items as disposable diapers
and dinner napkins. However, the use of
thinner plastics in food packaging can reduce
safety and protection from contaminants,
punctures, and tampering.

21. Packages layered
• Sometimes two or three materials are
combined or laminated together to keep foods
safe and fresh. However, commingled
materials are difficult to recycle. For example,
drink boxes have six layers of polyethylene,
foil, and paper. Each layer is necessary to
preserve the drink. Another food wrap that
currently can’t be recycled is foil-backed
sandwich wrap that helps keep a sandwich
warm

22. Are plastic food containers recyclable
• Plastic food containers cannot be recycled to make new
food containers for sanitation reasons. But plastics
used in the food industry can be recycled for other
uses if they can be separated easily.
• For example, recycled PET plastic is used for carpet
backing, fiberfill for sleeping bags or ski jackets,
fiberglass tubs and shower stalls, paintbrush and
appliance handles, floor tiles, and more.
• Recycled HDPE plastic is used for such things as
trashcans, flowerpots, traffic cones, and plastic
“lumber” for park benches, railroad ties, boat docks,
and fences.

23. Degradable plastic packages
• Degradable plastic packages decompose over time from exposure
to light, hydrolysis, biological organisms such as fungi or bacteria, or
some combination of environmental factors.
• degradable plastics are used in such non-food items as garbage
bags and disposable diapers. A food package must be a sufficient
barrier to prevent contamination from the surrounding
environment during the intended shelf life of the product.
• degradation or decomposition process must not release toxic
products that could migrate into the food, making it unsafe.
• Standards for measuring acceptability of degradable plastics for use
in the food industry currently are in development, and must be
approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

24. What happens in the landfill
• Few materials degrade in modern landfills.
Even naturally biodegradable products may
not degrade in today’s landfill because of the
lack of air and moisture that bacteria need to
thrive. Consequently, many packaging
materials would be recognizable if dug up
from a landfill 20 years in the future

25. SOLUTIONS
• Although no packaging is the best choice of
all.
• The goal should always be to reduce
unnecessary packaging.
• eliminate unnecessary packaging. Where the
need for packaging exists,
• packaging should follow the 3R's hierarchy.

26. The First R Minimal Packaging
• Packaging should be reduced prior to the manufacturing stage, by
designing and marketing products for the first "R". This means reducing
the number of layers, materials and toxins at source. In general order of
hierarchy, reduction occurs by:
• I. Using less packaging and by meeting all or most of the 3R's hierarchy,
including reuse and recycle
• II. Minimizing the number of materials used
• III. Minimizing the weight and volume of materials used
• IV. Employing bulk delivery systems
• V. Product concentration resulting in smaller packages
• VI. Using fewer toxic chemicals in the product and its packaging
• VII. Utilizing modes of shipping requiring less packaging and use of
repairable pallets by manufacturers
• VIII. Using multi-layered, multi-material packaging. However, this usually
makes the product non-recyclable (i.e.: composites, laminates)

27. The Second R Reusable Packaging
• Packaging should be designed to be reusable, refillable, returnable
and durable to the greatest extent possible. In general order of
hierarchy, reuse is achieved by:
• I. Reusing/refilling commercially and redistributing refilled products
• II. Refilling by the consumer through dispensing systems at retail
outlets
• III. Reusing containers which have been standardized to assist in
reuse applications
• IV. Refilling via a second package (i.e.: smaller, concentrated
containers or larger family-size packages)
• V. Reusing in the home - INFREQUENTLY purchased, durable and
distinctive containers (i.e.: teddy bear peanut butter jars that can
later be used as cookie or candy jars)
• VI. Reusing in the home - FREQUENTLY purchased containers (i.e.:
margarine tubs)

28. The Third R Recycle Packaging
Packaging should be designed to be recyclable and/or made with recycled
content. A package or packaging material is considered to be "recyclable"
if there is a widely available and economically viable collection, processing
and marketing system for the product/material. In general order of
hierarchy, packaging may be recycled in the following ways:
I. Recycling over and over back into its original packaging type (also known as
primary or "closed loop" recycling
II. Recycling back into another recyclable, useful package/marketable product
(also known as secondary recycling)
III. Recycling back into another non-recyclable product (also known as "open
loop" or tertiary recycling). Examples include:
IV. Durable and marketable goods such as synthetic carpet
V. "Cascaded" (delayed disposal), short-lived or single use marketable items
such as seeding flowerpots
VI. Recycling into "show piece" product that is not marketable in quantity
such as park benches made from disposable diapers