Plastic has become a prominent issue in recent times: banning of micro plastics, charge for plastic bags and the introduction of a plastic packaging tax in 2022. It is increasingly clear we must look for alternatives to wrap our food, deliver our parcels and carry our produce.
So how harmful is Plastic on our environment?
The main problem with plastic is that it is difficult to biodegrade. It is roughly estimated a plastic bottle takes 450 years to decompose, and manufacture of these single waste products has increased by 70% over the last 30 years alone (Pela, 2020). Much of this will end up in landfill but with the world producing 381 million tonnes of plastic waste each year it is inevitable that it pollutes the sea and contaminates our food (Condor Ferries, 2020).
If we look at food specifically, these plastics can be traced in our food due to ‘trophic transfer’, simply meaning the animals at the start of the food chain consume microplastics which are then consumed by larger animals, in addition, plastics can be transferred into food via the manufacturing and packaging process, so much so that the average person consumes a credit cards worth of micro plastic each week and this can be even more dangerous for wild and sea life (Herbert, 2019).
On July 29th we globally passed Earth overshoot day. This day marks when humanity exhausted all its resources for the year, thus we are overshooting environmental targets and accelerating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Consequently this all contributes to the worsening of climate change and the production of plastic is a major contributor, therefore, we must look at alternatives to reduce our environmental debt.
What are the alternatives?
In the past year, supermarket Iceland has aimed to eliminate all own brand plastic packaging by 2023 (Iceland.co.uk, 2021). They have worked on alternative packaging that will allow them to preserve the freshness and durability of its plastic rivals. They have used paper and carton board to replace single use plastic that was used to store and carry produce. This is promising for the food industry as it shows even a large supermarket has the ability to change.
Human convention has added unnecessary everyday plastic to our shopping, fruit and veg have natural protections and do not need to be wrapped, however, due to social norms regarding hygiene and the onset of Covid-19 many have wanted their produce to be protected and sealed when it could simply be washed under a hot tap.
However, there are some products that need a hard durable cover that is waterproof. One option could be plant based plastics, A.K.A Bioplastics have developed plastics made from natural ingredients such as corn which they break down into polylactic acid to use as a plant plastic. This is incredibly sustainable given it is made from waste corn and successful given smoothie brand Innocent have recently changed their plastic bottles to this formula. Plant plastics take around 3-6 months to biodegrade which is in huge contrast to artificial plastics.
But is it too little too late, given the tonnes of plastic already in landfill that will take hundreds of years to decompose, are we living on borrowed time to slow climate change? The BBC (2019) have been critical of plant based biodegradable plastics and believe this may not be the resolution we are all hoping for as people will still be wasteful. Instead we should work towards changing our everyday attitudes: buy loose vegetables, fill up a reusable bottle rather than single use, pick up our rubbish and choose environmentally conscious consumption habits because our planets time is running out.
Here at Intellidigest we can help you make these consumption changes that will make long term differences to food sustainability. We host a range of webinars and courses to help individuals and companies make a positive impact. In addition, by downloading the food waste and loss tracker we can help gather enhanced data and learn how to better reduce waste.