Food Waste & Sustainable Packaging
Carol Zweep, NSF International
PFAC Fall Conference
November 7, 2016
Overview
NSF Organization & Services
Food Waste
Food waste in Canada & globally
Initiatives in other countries
Packaging protects products & prevents waste
Sustainable Packaging
Packaging waste
Approaches for sustainable packaging
Examples
Future trends
Closing remarks
NSF Organization and
Services
Our Mission
NSF International is dedicated to being the leading
global provider of public health and safety-based risk
management solutions while serving the interests of all
stakeholders, namely the public, the business
community and government agencies.
NSF International is a global, independent,
public health and safety organization.
Our mission and focus has always been
protecting and improving human health.
4
Core Divisions
NSF
Around
the Globe
NSF provides
services in
168 countries
with 75
office and
laboratory
locations.
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CANADIAN OFFICE – GUELPH, ON
(GFTC SINCE 1996)
Services
• Certification & Verification
– Food Safety Systems Certification, Agriculture, Organic
Certification (QAI), Label Claims (Non-GMO Project, Gluten
Free)
• Food Safety and Quality Consulting
– GMP/HACCP/GFSI Gap and risk assessment, FSMA compliance
support, product recall support, food fraud assessment
• Technical Services
– Product & Process Development
– Packaging
– Label Compliance (various countries and commodities)
• Training & Education – online and customized on-site
training, live webinars
Food Waste
Food Waste in Canada
•
According to recent estimates, average Canadian household throws out
between $1,000 and $1,500 worth of food each year (equivalent to bag of
groceries for every four or five bags purchased)
• But 850,000 Canadians use food banks every month
• In Canada, $31 billion worth of food ends up in landfills or composters
each year with 47% of food waste happening in the home (Value Chain
Management International, 2014 report)
Source: CBC News, CBC News, A $31B problem: How Canada sucks at reducing food waste
(Oct 26, 2016) & How you can cut waste, save money and eat well (Oct 29, 2016)
Investigating Food Waste
• CBC Marketplace spent six months investigating the food thrown out by
supermarkets (aired on Oct. 28 on CBC Television)
• Marketplace found dozens of bins full of food behind two Toronto-area
Walmart locations.
• "Food waste is part of the food policy that we're going to deal with in the
next year or two," Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay told CBC
News.
Source: CBC News, CBC News, A $31B problem: How Canada sucks at reducing food waste
(Oct 26, 2016) & How you can cut waste, save money and eat well (Oct 29, 2016)
Global Food Loss/Waste
• Study suggest that roughly one-third of food produced for human
consumption is lost or wasted globally, amounting to about 1.3 billion tons
per year (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN)
• Food is lost or wasted throughout the supply chain, from initial agricultural
production down to household consumption
Source: Study conducted for the International
Congress SAVE FOOD! at Interpack2011
Düsseldorf, Germany
Initiative by other countries
• France banned food waste, forcing supermarkets to sign agreements with
charities so no edible food ends up in the trash
• Italy's Senate has passed a law that makes donating food easier for
businesses and offers tax credits to supermarkets and farmers who donate
• September 2016, US EPA announced US first national food waste
reduction goal of 50% reduction by 2030
• The United Nations is adopting a similar objective as part of the new
Sustainable Development Goals
Source: CBC News, CBC News, A $31B problem: How Canada sucks at reducing food waste
(Oct 26, 2016) & How you can cut waste, save money and eat well (Oct 29, 2016)
Packaging & Food Waste
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Packaging can play a large role in preventing food waste
Under packaged food can result in damage and food spoilage
Over packaging can lead to additional costs but increased material weight
can have negative impact on the environment
Designed properly, packaging provides longer shelf life (more time in the
supply chain) and encourage consumer purchase
Keeping food fresh is a key challenge for the packaging industry
New packaging technologies such as active packaging (oxygen and
ethylene scavengers) can extend shelf life
Packaging Protects Products, Prevents Waste
A study in Europe called How Packaging Contributes to Food Waste
Prevention finds that packaged fresh goods have a smaller environmental
footprint than unpackaged food (even if the packaging is not recycled).
The study finds that proper packaging results in less greenhouse gas
emissions. Even though more packaging is being used, less food is being
wasted, leading to a lower overall carbon footprint.
Packaging Protects Products, Prevents Waste
A review of packaging that reduces food waste by EUROPEN (The
European Organization for Packaging and the Environment) concludes:
“Packaging is part of the solution to tackle food waste. Packaging prevents
food spoilage, ensures food quality and safety along the supply chain and
at home, informs consumers on how to use and store packaged food
products, increases shelf-life and provides portion sizes answering the
multiple needs of consumer lifestyles and demographic changes.”
Packaging & Food Waste
Food Recovery Hierarchy
End of Life Options
SOLID WASTE
Composting Industrial & Home
(aerobic)
Biogasification
(anaerobic
digestion)
Use of compost in soil
Gasification
(CO + H2)
Landfill
Incineration
Waste to Energy
Recycling
Chemical Mechanical
Science of Biodegradation
Carbon
substrate or
“food”
+
microorganism
O2
No O2
Water + CO2
Humus + Heat
CO2 + Methane
Humus + Heat (little)
Note: Methane is 21X strength as GHG than CO2
AEROBIC
COMPOSTING
ANAEROBIC
DIGESTION
Sustainable Packaging
Environmental Awareness
• Increase in media coverage
• Investors interested in socially responsible
• Companies incorporating sustainability in their
business focus
• Consumers demanding “green” products and
packaging
• Require sustainability initiatives that support
environmental responsibility and economic benefit
Consumer Packaging Visibility
Packaging Waste
Consumer products generate significant
waste
• Packaging is a visible and significant part
of the environmental waste issue
• In 2013, Americans generated about 254
million tons of trash of which 34.3% was
recycled and composted
• In 2010, Canadian households produced
25 million tonnes of non-hazardous solid
waste of which 32.4% went was diverted
(recycling or composting)
Total Municipal Solid Waste, 2013
254 Million Tons (before recycling)
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency,
Advancing Sustainable Materials Management:
Facts and Figures
Consumer Confusion
Eco-Labelling
What is the best option for sustainable
packaging?
DEPENDS ON THE PRODUCT NEEDS
SPC Definition: Sustainable Packaging
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Is beneficial, safe & healthy throughout its life cycle
Meets market criteria for performance and cost
Is sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewable
energy
Maximizes use of renewable or recycled source materials
Uses clean production technologies
Is made from materials healthy in end of life scenarios
Is designed to optimize materials and energy
Is recovered and used in biological or industrial cradle to cradle cycles
Green Washing
Want to protect/preserve the product
Want to minimize environmental impact
Don’t want to mislead the consumer about the environmental
benefits of the product
7 Sins of Green Washing
Declarations, labels and claims provisions are available in ISO 14021
Environmental Claims: A Guide for Industry and Advertisers (Competition
Bureau Canada)
US FTC Guidelines on environmental marketing claims (FTC 260)
No Easy Answers
• A single-criterion approach cannot
be used
• Lightweight from fossil resources vs
heavier package from renewable
source
• Heavy container reused many times
vs light container used once then
recycled
Life Cycle Assessment
• Measures the environmental impacts of products, processes or services,
through production, usage, and disposal
• Goal is to compare the LCA of products to choose the least burdensome
one
• BUT expensive and time consuming exercise that uses industry average
inputs and becomes outdated with changes in technology
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 14040
LCA Identifies All Steps in a Package Life Cycle
Mineral
Depletion
Chemical
Pollution
Raw Material
Extraction
Raw Material
Processing
Transportation
Energy
Use
Package Conversion
Distribution
Transportation
Retail storage
Filling & Packaging
Water
Use
Consumer Use
GHG
Emissions
Disposal,
Recycling or
Reuse
Life Cycle Examples
1.
2.
Review of Lifecycle Inventory Study for Half-Gallon Milk Containers (ULS Report,
October 2007)
Conclusion: Based on study of half gallon containers (delivering 10,000 container
uses) HDPE containers use less energy to produce, create less post-consumer
solid waste, and generate lower GHG emissions than glass or PLA bottles
Life Cycle Assessment of coffee consumption: comparison of single-serve coffee
and bulk coffee brewing (Quantis, 2015)
Conclusion: Bulk brewed coffee has greater environmental impact due to
amount of coffee required (including consumer waste) and electricity for
brewing. This despite single-serve coffee generating more packaging waste.
Approaches for Sustainable Packaging
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Reuse/Repurpose
Reduce
Recycle
Use renewable source materials
Use responsibly sourced materials
Review manufacturing process
Optimize package design
Examine distribution system
Create a corporate sustainability plan
Source: www.durhamyorkwaste.ca
Practical Steps to Sustainability
Reuse/Repurpose:
• Containers reused for numerous cycles (reusable bulk containers
i.e., plastic vs fiber corrugated boxes)
• Making items from packaging waste (i.e. TerraCycle, Eco-Connect
Bottle System)
Practical Steps to Sustainability
Reduce:
• Eliminate unnecessary packaging
• extra secondary pkg, single large vs multi small packages
• Light weight materials
• thinner gauge, less material
• Source alternative materials
• flexible vs. rigid packaging
• Design package to minimize material usage and minimize scrap during
production
• case style selection, cut out waste for boxboard, thermoform vs
injection
Practical Steps to Sustainability
Recycle:
• Promote package recycling through
material choices and package
design
• use of recycled content &
recyclable materials, consider
avoiding use of multilayer
materials
Canadian Waste Diversion Rate (2010)
Province
NL
PE
NS
NB
QC
ON
MB
SK
AB
BC
YT,NT,NU
% Waste Diversion
No data
No data
42
22.4
28.7
22.9
15.8
13.2
15.4
35.4
No data
Source: Waste Management Industry Survey, Statistics Canada
Material Recovery
• Promote consumer recycling (How2Recycle program)
• Design for recyclability (adhesive, inks, full body
sleeves) and separatability (optic sensor separation)
• Better recycling of polymer waste (bottle to bottle
recycling i.e. Ice River Springs)
Practical Steps to Sustainability
Renewable Source:
Bio-based polymer - polymers based on materials produced by
living organisms
Why develop bio-based materials for packaging?
• Reduce carbon footprint – plants use CO2
• Renewable resource – compared to petroleum based
materials
• Alternate end-of-life scenario – biodegradation or recycling
Bio-based Polymers Categories
COMPOSTABLE
NOT COMPOSTABLE
Starch based polymer
Polymer from
Chemical or
Renewable Source i.e.
cellulosic film, PLA,
PHA, some polyesters
Fibre based
Polymer with
Renewable Source
Component i.e. PLA
blended with
conventional plastics
Conventional
Polymer from
Renewable
Source
Renewable Source
Compostable
Coffee Pods
PlantBottle™ made from
renewable resource (30%)
New Developments- Biopolymers
Improve production efficiency
• Use less energy, have less CO2 emissions
Non-food feed stock
• Methane, waste water, agricultural waste (corn cob, stover), switch
grasses
Sustainable farming practices
• Non-GMO seeds, no carcinogenic chemicals, soil fertility testing and
residue management to avoid soil erosion and water quality issues
Chemical Recycling
• Depolymerize - economics to process PLA back into lactic acid are
attractive
Practical Steps to Sustainability
Responsibly source materials:
• Using recycled content
• Using certified fiber
• Material health
Forest Certification Programs
Practical Steps to Sustainability
• Minimizing waste, reduce energy and water consumption in the
manufacturing process
• Optimize package design to:
– Reduce product damage in the distribution system (primary,
secondary, tertiary)
– Increase in filling/packing line efficiency
– Maximize product/packaging volume ratio and packaging
efficiency in unit and distribution packaging
– Maximize shelf life, minimize product waste
Practical Steps to Sustainability
• Transport efficiency
– Minimize transportation distance
– Minimize transport impact i.e. ocean instead of
air travel, transport by rail instead of truck
Practical Steps to Sustainability
Create clear corporate sustainability plan
• Build a business case, build a team
• Review currents practices
• Devise metrics to track progress and savings
• Create systems that lead to identification of current problems and drive
the continuous elimination of waste
• Re-assess and refine plan to meet goals
• Celebrate success
Consumer Product Examples of
Sustainable Packaging Initiatives
Light-weighting Initiatives
Between 2000 and 2014, the average weight
of a 16.9-ounce PET (half-liter) plastic bottle
has declined 48% to 9.89 grams
This has resulted in a savings of 6.2 billion
pounds of PET resin since 2000
Source: IBWA (www.bottledwater.org)
New PET RightWeight bottle
weighs 7.95g, compared to an
average of 12g for commercial
500ml water bottles
Kraft Salad Dressing Bottle Redesign
Old
New
Results
• Delivered consumer value (easy to
hold, pour & store)
• Maintained shelf life, distribution &
line performance
• 19% resin reduction (3MM lbs/yr)
• 18% reduction in shipping of empty
bottles
• Eliminated 3.9M corrugated totes/yr
Daylesford Organic Ecolean Packages
• Daylesford Organic (UK),
organic milk is sold in
containers made by
Ecolean
• 1 litre Ecolean® Air package
weighs a mere 16 grams
(43-52% lighter than a
traditional liquid food
carton, bottle or can) and
stores flat
Source: www.daylesfordorganic.com, www.ecolean.com
Environmental Comparison
- Ecolean Air
Energy Consumption
Greenhouse Gas Emission
Water Pollution
Outputs for the manufacture
of 100 000 packages, 1.0 litre
size.
Source: www.ecolean.com
Hunt’s Ketchup Light weight Bottle
• Plastipak (Constar) PET bottle for ConAgra Foods' Hunt's Ketchup
was the winner of AmeriStar's 3M Sustainable Packaging Award for
2007
• The bottle is recyclable, lightweight and contains an oxygen
scavenger (DiamondClear®).
Nature’s Path Package Change
ECO-PACs (66% less packaging)
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437 tons of paperboard saved/yr
7,464 million BTUs saved/yr
1,389,232 lbs of CO2 equivalent/yr
826,542 gallons of wastewater saved/yr
248,383 lbs of solid waste diverted/yr
Source: Nature’s Path News Release, September 5, 2007
Nature’s Path Package Change
EnviroBox (package size reduced by 10%)
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4.921 million litres of water/yr
942,128 KWh of energy/yr
144 tons of paperboard/yr
400 tractor trailers removed from highways
Kenco Coffee Package Change
Kenco coffee's Eco-Refill package (UK) delivers a 70%
savings in the packaging's carbon impact and uses
97% less packaging compared to the glass jar
Source: www.mondelezinternational.com
Kraft Package Change
Kraft YES Pack (US) is
recyclable, uses 60 % less
plastic packaging, uses 50% less
energy and releases 70% less
CO2 emissions during inbound
transportation than the
previous plastic jug design
Source: www.mondelezinternational.com
Replenish Cleaner Refill
• A reusable, durable bottle for a
cleaning product with replaceable,
screw-on concentrate “pod”
cartridges
• Uses 90% less plastic, oil and CO2
emissions compared to pre-mixed
cleaners
• Out of a normal bottle of cleaner,
only 5% is cleaner and the rest is
plastic and water
Source: Data Monitor, March 2013
Sustainability is…
+
Complex and Evolving
Future Trends
Consumer education
- Proposed How2Compost program (GreenBlue)
Material recovery infrastructure & end markets
- Novel marking and sorting techniques
- Flexible packaging diversion
Energy from waste
- New and emerging technologies
Future Trends
Technology and innovation
– Active & intelligent packaging, nanotechnology
– Bio-based polymer development (bacteria use of
methane/solid waste, starch from potato processing)
– Renewable source for conventional plastics (100% biobased
Plant Bottle™)
– Edible packaging (Ooho!)
Closing Remarks
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Packaging can protect the product and
prevent food waste
Packaging is part of the sustainability issue
Industry must balance consumer demands
for sustainable products with demands for
convenience, performance, appearance
and cost
Must not loose sight of producing a quality
package that protects a product and
delivers it safely to the consumer without
misleading the consumer
Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor
Thank you