Biodegradable Packaging

Year 13 Edexcel contemporary issues

2. 5: Contemporary issues
An awareness and implications
of the following contemporary
issues:
- biodegradability of packaging
materials

3. THE 3 P’S OF PACKAGING
PROTECT
PRESERVE
PROMOTE

4. - not all recyclable- cheap
- lightweight
- versatile
- durable
Plastic (50 different
groups)
-Milk
- ready meals
- not water-resistant
- easily damaged
- easy to print on
- cheap to produce
- biodegradable
- recyclable
- can be moulded
- can be coated
- lightweight
Card/paper
- fruit-juice cartons
- egg boxes
- may react with food - recyclable
- lightweight
- impermeable
- withstands heat
processing
Metal
- soup cans
- take-away containers
- bottle tops
- fragile
- safety issues
- heavy
- reusable
- heat-resistant
- recyclable
- keeps shape
- low cost
Glass
- baby foods
- salad cream
- pickles

5. The facts
The UK generates around 25 million tonnes of household waste
per year, much of this ends up in landfill. As part of the ‘War on
Waste’ campaign, there is an ongoing study of food packaging.
The third wave of this study investigated the food packaging
levels and composition on 29 common food items in the following
Retail outlets: ASDA, Co-op, Lidl, Marks and Spencer,
Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
Key findings from the third wave:
•5% of the weight of the shopping baskets were made up
of packaging
•The average weight of packaging in a basket was 727g,
but this ranged from 645.5g for the basket of items
from Tesco to 802.5g for Waitrose’s basket
•The proportion of waste packaging that was recyclable
ranged from 57.8% in Lidl's basket to 66.8% in the
baskets from Sainsburys

6. The damage we are doing
Plastic waste causes untold damage to the
Environment as well as costing
governments millions of pounds/euros
every year for disposal. Plastic waste such as
food cartons often ends up in landfill sites
or discarded on the street. Incineration of
plastic waste causes toxic gases to pollute
the air.

7. Biodegradable
•Biodegradable means that it can be broken down
by the earth.
•A biodegradable product is disposed of to the
earth. The microorganisms in the earth
(bacteria, fungi or other simple organisms),
break the object down by natural processes, into
more basic components.
•The end of the process results in Carbon
Dioxide(CO2) and Water (H2O).
•A 100% biodegradable product will be completely
broken down, with no remain trace.

8. What
schemes/initiatives
are being introduced
to help?

9. Symbols
Recycle Now - Together we can make a difference

10. Compostable packaging in the
UK
•The UK is becoming a leading light in the
introduction of compostable packaging, due to a
number of specific factors:
•Increasing Media and consumer awareness of
environmental issues
•Media anti-packaging focus
•Dynamic retail market
Response to above
‘Green wars’
‘let’s make it happen’ mentality

11. Increasing consumer recycling

12. Who is doing
what?

13. Solutions
One solution to the problem is to use
biodegradable packaging that decomposes
naturally and has no harmful effects on the
environment. Used in conjunction with recycling
as a means of disposal, this technology can help
reduce the millions of tonnes of plastic waste
that accumulate every year.

14. Biopac
Biopac harness state-of-the-art
technology to develop biodegradable and
compostable alternatives to
petrochemical based plastics.
Home | Biopac - Packaging with Principles
We have a wide range of soup
containers all made from
sustainable board. They have
many uses - not just soup but
perfect for Ice Cream and
other foods.
Our Sandwich containers
are produced from
sustainable materials but
where possible  we use a
high percentage of
recycled material.

15. •Cornstarch is derived from cornstarch resin and that
of other natural starches, which are wholly renewable
and therefore a completely sustainable resource for
packaging.  It is light, but durable and is safe and non-
toxic.
Cornstarch packaging is 100% compostable and like a
vegetable, will reduce down to carbon dioxide and
water.
•Potato Starch comes from waste potatoes, not a crop
grown expressly for their manufacture. The 100%
compostable material contains no oil based materials,
plastics or harmful toxins.
It’s durable, but will break down in just 12 weeks on a
compost heap, making it the ideal material for multi-use
retail carrier bags or hygienic domestic disposal bags.
•Recycled Post-Consumer Waste which is both
biodegradable and compostable – and highly sustainable
as a raw material. 

16. •Palm Hailing from Northern India and naturally shed,
the palm leaf sheaths we use for our products provide
valuable employment for small village communities, in
their harvesting.
Palm is a versatile and fully biodegradable and
compostable material that requires no chemicals, resins
or dyes.  It’s hygienic, lightweight, strong and water
and heat resistant; so it’s suitable for fridge/freezer
storage and microwave and oven cooking (up to 220
degrees).  
•Cane Sugarcane is a natural by-product of the sugar
industry in South East Asia that would conventionally
be discarded or burnt, in order to dispose of it.  It can
tolerate the freezer or microwave, and won’t absorb oil
or leak.
•Wood It’s one of the oldest raw materials known to
man, but to continue to use it on a large scale, we need
to source it responsibly and sustainably.  Our wood
products are made from timber sourced from Forestry
Stewardship Council (FSC).

17. Abel and Cole
..\..\..\NEW OCR GCSE units 1-4\New GCSE worksheets\Videos\Abel_&_Cole\07_Sustainability_packaging
How do Abel and Cole try and reduce,
reuse, recycle, rethink, reuse and repair
their packaging?

18. Excess food packaging; Retailer action
•UK businesses must recycle 55% of packaging
•Cutting down on excess food packaging can involve initial
costs for a company, eg investing in new machines or
methods. But even simple changes to packaging can mean
savings for the manufacturer as well as the environment.
•Legal packaging requirements:
•Laws require packaging to be manufactured so volume and
weight are limited to the minimum amount necessary to
maintain required levels of safety and hygiene and for the
packed product and for the consumer.
•Large companies are also required to pay for the cost of
recycling a certain percentage of the packaging they handle
– so it makes sense for them to use fewer materials.
•Each year there are packaging recovery and recycling
targets for UK businesses to meet, designed to help the UK
meet European targets. In 2008 businesses must recover
60% of packaging waste and recycle 55% of packaging.

19. Reducing packaging on the shelves

•Supermarkets are taking steps to reduce excess packaging
•Retailers have traditionally focused on reducing industrial food
packaging rather than on the packs we see on the shelves.
•The main supermarkets, for example, told us they've reduced
transport packaging or switched to reusable materials for
transporting foods.
•Few companies have done the same for packaging used on the food
itself, although this is starting to change for the better.
Supermarkets reducing excess packaging
•Tesco has reduced the packaging of its sandwiches, saving the
equivalent of one 15 tonne lorry full of waste every month.
•In Waitrose stores 50% of organic produce is available in
degradable, biodegradable and compostable packaging.
•Asda has reduced the thickness of its plastic salad bags by 15%, and
removed an unnecessary cardboard sleeve on a selection of ready
meals.
•The Co-operative has reduced the weight of glass bottles used for
26 different Co-operative wines – saving a total of 450 tonnes of
glass a year

20. Future of food packaging
•Some attempts to make food packaging more
environmentally friendly work better than others. 
•Tesco introduced biodegradable packing for organic fruit in
2001, claiming it 'could save millions of pounds in waste
disposal'. But it's now used on just a few Tesco products as
'customers weren't willing to pay for more costly
packaging'.
•Some other companies are still using biodegradable
packaging. And they're not limited to fruit: in Australia,
Cadbury's Milk Tray chocolates are packed in plantic – a
plastic made from corn starch that dissolves when wet and
can be composted.
•New laws mean we're likely to see a new generation of food
packaging. 'Active' packs interact with food to prolong shelf
life, while 'intelligent' packs tell you about the food's
condition.
•Such innovations may seem to add to our packaging burden,
but the hope is they'll lead to less food waste – another
drain on landfill space.

21. Packaging Analysis:
PRODUCT
PROTECT
PRESERVE
PROMOTE
ECO IMPACT
IMPROVE

22. Research:
•Research a well known company to find out
what they are doing to keep up to date with
the contemporary issue of biodegradable
packaging. Some examples you could research:
•Kenco
•Cadburys
•Heinz
•Kellogg's
•Walkers
•McDonalds
What schemes have
they tried?
How much has it
cost them?
Have the schemes
worked?
What are the
benefits/implications?
Do they feel there are no
issues with their packaging?