As consumers increasingly look for eco-friendly labels on their food packaging, food-industry professionals should seek to be as clear as possible in their messaging around attributes such as “recyclable” or “compostable.”
The ubiquity of these terms on food packaging might lead consumers to feel confident about the disposition of these items, when in fact the materials might not actually be easily recycled or composted.
“I think there’s generally a very baseline understanding of claims, and at the same time a high level of confusion and uncertainty about what those claims actually mean,” says John Paap, sustainability director at fruit importer Jac. Vandenberg. Inc. and co-chair of the Sustainable Packaging Working Group at the International Fresh Produce Association.
The Ecolabel Index, which tracks the use of eco-labels around the world, lists 456 such labels, which each have their own symbols and verbiage.
When it comes to food packaging, consumers say they would like to participate in recycling programs but are often confused about what materials can be recycled, according to The Recycling Partnership.
“With over 9,000 community recycling programs throughout the U.S., each program has different standards for what materials can be collected,” The Recycling Partnership concludes in its 2024 State of Recycling report.
Education and outreach
The confusion around sustainability labeling on food packaging is a significant concern for the Sustainable Packaging Working Group at IFPA, says Paap.
“The association is working with other industries to come up with a strategy to increase education and outreach to the general public about how to properly discard packaging and how to interpret the claims on packaging,” he says.
Another significant goal is to “create a level of harmonization” that minimizes the diversity among the terms and symbols that are used to make sustainability claims. This would enable consumers to more easily understand how to properly dispose of their food packaging and make it easier for brands to label their products appropriately.
“It can be very overwhelming, especially when you’re operating in multiple markets around the world, where each market has their own requirements,” says Paap.
Looking forward, Paap says he expects that the working group will focus on providing guidance around alternative packaging materials, as well as improving plastic to make it more recyclable and functional within circular environment, he says.
In the meantime, providing clear communication with consumers is key, says Paap. This can be achieved with messaging on a brand’s website, perhaps linked to a QR code on the packaging, as part of a broader overall communication strategy around sustainability initiatives. Brands could use this online platform to share their sustainability goals, as well as the challenges they face and the successes they have in meeting those goals.
In addition, brands can provide information online about how to properly dispose of packaging, as well as detailed information about what sustainability claims or symbols actually mean.
Third-party organizations such as The U.S. Plastics Pact have been working with packaging industry stakeholders to create more harmonized standards when it comes to the sustainability of plastics. Among the organization’s goals is for 100% of all plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by this year.
In addition, organizations such as How2Recycle offer resources to help consumers keep their packaging out of landfills. How2Recycle seeks to provide consistent and transparent on-pack disposal information for packaging in the U.S. and Canada, and it also offers a How2Compost label for packages that can be composted at industrial facilities.
More packaging options
One of the ways that packaging providers seek to ensure they are achieving their sustainability goals is through the use of a Life Cycle Analysis (sometimes called a Life Cycle Assessment), or LCA, which examines the environmental impact of packaging from the sourcing of the materials that are used to make the packaging through its eventual disposition.
At Kwik Lok, for example, the company conducts LCAs on every new product it introduces. The company makes several different types of bag closures, in addition to the equipment used to apply the closures to bags during the packaging process.
“These Life Cycle Analyses have to be very specific to the exact products you are looking at,” says Viktoria Pakhnyuk, sustainable product development manager at Kwik Lok.
The materials used in each product must be traced back to their original sources and evaluated based on their total environmental impact, including the manufacturing and transportation processes. At Kwik Lok, the company has primarily focused on the environmental impacts in terms of the carbon footprint, water usage, and the amount of plastic used.
In order to help its food-industry customers meet their goals around sustainability, Kwik Lok offers a variety of bag closures made of different materials. These include the Enviro-Lok, a closure that has scored well in its LCA, Pakhnyuk says. It is made from polypropylene, a highly durable plastic that is recyclable.
The Enviro-Lok provides the same strength and reliability that other Kwik Lok closures offer, with the added benefits of using 34% less plastic than the standard Kwik Lok closure and 67% less water, with 44% less carbon emissions emitted.
For more information about Kwik Lok solutions that can help your company meet its sustainability goals, visit https://kwiklok.com.
