Protect products and food with recyclable packaging film while saving energy and resources. About the proportion of spoiled food caused by suboptimal shipping packaging.
The primary function of packaging film is to protect the packaged products from environmental factors, contamination, and damage. Comparisons and studies demonstrate just how important high-quality packaging film is in this regard. The protective function of packaging film is particularly evident in the food industry. According to a study by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), about one-third of the world’s food never reaches the end consumer because the products spoil beforehand, during transport and storage.
Protecting food from environmental factors, contamination, and damage using recyclable packaging films
Energy and resources were unnecessarily wasted on these food items and products that never reached the end consumer. According to an article by IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffe e. V., this already accounts for 20 percent of the food produced in Europe alone. This amounts to the equivalent of approximately 88 million metric tons per year; on a per-person basis, that’s 173 kg of food and products that do not reach the end consumer. This harms consumers, society, the economy, and the environment and must be avoided at all costs. To maintain the quality and shelf life of products, the solution lies in the use of recyclable packaging films.
Maintaining the quality of food and products to improve the carbon footprint has not yet received enough attention
In this context, the European Commission and the German federal government are focusing primarily on issues related to discarded food that is still edible. Too little attention is currently being paid to ensuring the quality and shelf life of food as it makes its way to the end consumer. Yet preserving the quality of food and products would improve the carbon footprint, since the proportion of products that never even reach the end consumer is immense due to inadequate transport packaging.
Here’s an example: Cucumbers shrink-wrapped in plastic film significantly extend and improve their shelf life in supermarkets. According to the article, this reduces the amount of produce that supermarkets must discard due to spoilage or damage by 51 percent in the case of shrink-wrapped cucumbers. This means that the carbon footprint of an unpackaged cucumber can be 53 times larger than that of the plastic packaging, since a large portion does not reach the end consumer. On the German market alone, up to 383,000 metric tons of cucumbers are consumed.
Reliable film packaging reduces CO₂ emissions
If reliable plastic film packaging ensured that the majority of cucumbers actually reached the end consumer, the reduction in CO₂ emissions resulting from the use of plastic film would be a significant factor. It is therefore important to take a holistic view of the entire production process—including transportation—in terms of resource consumption.
You can find the article by IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffe e. V. at the link below on the topic of product protection.
Recyclable and eco-friendly packaging films from a systems provider for packaging machines and films
With high-quality plastic films for the eco-friendly packaging of all kinds of products, we offer eco-friendly films —crystal-clear, extremely tear- and puncture-resistant, and available in very thin gauges. This optimizes the use of resources and provides products with optimal protection against dirt and moisture while preserving their original condition.
When it comes to packaging quality and appearance, our cross-linked films also deliver outstanding, high-quality, and sales-promoting product packaging thanks to shrinkage rates of approximately 90%.
This unique product offering from Schlichter GmbH gives you the opportunity to package your products in an environmentally friendly and timely manner. Contact us—we’d be happy to advise you on our extensive range of packaging films.
