General / October 11, 2017
According to research conducted by Feeding America, about 72 billion pounds of food goes to waste throughout the production cycle and about 21% of this waste ends up at the landfill. No matter where you align yourself politically, food waste is a serious issue that affects our environment every single day.
And unfortunately, traditional rigid packaging is a major contributor to this landfill waste as it leads to an increased amount of methane emission and material excess. That’s why so many food brands are transitioning their product packaging away from rigid packaging and utilizing more flexible alternatives. Here are just some of the ways flexible packaging can help combat food and material waste at every stage of the process.
With rigid, inflexible food packaging, the package is often larger than it needs to be for the contents it contains, leading to excess material waste. Flexible packaging products, such as a stand-up pouch or quad style pouch, provide a better product-to-package ratio which helps eliminate unnecessary material waste.
Smaller packaging that’s more evenly ratioed with the food product inside not only saves space on the shelf and in the manufacturing facility, but it also greatly reduces your product’s negative impact at the landfill after use as well.
Flexible packaging pouches also utilize multilayered films and tightly sealed barrier structures that preserve food products and limit emissions from entering the environment. Aside from being environmentally friendly, these flexible film materials protect the food itself, reducing spoilage and increasing shelf life.
If your food packaging is not optimized for long lasting storage, the product inside will likely expire well before it’s fully consumed, resulting in more waste.
Even if a food package is stored properly, the food can still be subject to spoilage or waste if the package has vague, inaccurate or unclear labeling. In other words, unclear expiration dates might lead consumers to throwing out food before it’s actually spoiled, or saving food for too long, forcing them to toss it.
Flexible pouches provide a versatile canvas for printing, labeling and branding. This gives brands plenty of options for implementing consistent nutritional facts, expiration dates and other labeling that can work in favor of the product, the consumer, and the environment.
Flexible food packaging also offers a great deal of versatility when it comes to opening and closing the package. From spout fitments to resealable zippers, there’s a wide variety of closure systems available to meet your product’s specific storage needs.
The ability to reseal a food product and store it away for a later time is a simple packaging feature that is often taken for granted. Flexible packaging leverages the latest technology like rollstock with pre-applied zipper and Pour & Lok® resealable capabilities that allow consumers to use and store food products without losing any of the freshly opened flavors and aromas that originally came with it.
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