Plastic packaging fails to prevent food waste, new study finds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Brussels, April 10th 2018

A rise in plastic food packaging is failing to reduce Europe’s growing food waste problem, and in some cases may even be fueling it, according to pioneering new research. [1]

The study shows how annual per-capita use of plastic packaging has grown simultaneously with levels of food waste since the 1950s – now at 30kg and 173kg respectively. [2]

The review of available evidence published by Friends of the Earth Europe and Zero Waste Europe, on behalf of the Rethink Plastic alliance, also reveals that:

  • Big retailers are driving food and plastic packaging waste in Europe through practices such as food grading standards, and packaging food in multipacks and small format packs. One study showed that chopping green beans to fit plastic packaging resulted in 30-40% of the beans being wasted.
  • 37% of all food sold in the EU is wrapped in plastic – the most widely used packaging material.
  • The cost of food waste in the EU is estimated at €143 billion each year, equivalent to the annual operational budget of the EU.

Meadhbh Bolger, resource justice campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “The results are in: wrapping, bottling and packing food in plastic doesn’t systemically prevent food waste, and sometimes even causes it. It’s a red herring that’s causing terrible pollution of our land, sea and air. EU decision-makers need to listen to the growing public appetite to quit plastics, help Europe lead in adopting strict rules to limit throwaway plastics, and shift to localised food systems without disposable packaging.”

The study also highlights how the environmental impacts of plastics can be systematically underestimated when making policies which impact food packaging – including some in the new measures being developed by the European Commission to tackle plastic pollution. With the current use of the “Life Cycle Assessment” (LCA) methodology the Commission is leaving the door open to policies that fail to tackle plastic pollution. [3]

Ariadna Rodrigo, Sustainable Products Campaigner at Zero Waste Europe said “The packaging industry and the European Commission are not practicing sound decision making when it comes to food packaging. Their methodology, which often ignore the impacts of plastic waste, result in to conclusions that favour complex food packs which are impossible to reuse or recycle. The result is the promotion of plastic packaging designed for landfill and incineration.

The findings come as the European Commission prepares legislation to tackle plastic pollution, with a number of measures including a draft law on single-use plastics expected before the summer.

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NOTES

[1] A summary briefing of the report for media is available here. The full report is available here.

[2] The study shows how, between 2004 and 2014, household food waste in the EU doubled to an estimated 30 million tonnes per year. Plastic packaging waste increased by 50% over the same period, reaching over 15 million tonnes, although part of this may be attributable to new countries joining the EU The best-available data suggests around 40% of plastic packaging waste comes from food packaging.

[3] Analysis of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool – in principle, the most comprehensive framework in analysing and assessing the environmental impact of goods and services – shows that it commonly simplifies the drivers of food waste and overstates the benefits of plastic packaging. This includes focusing on carbon emissions as the key environmental impact, and assuming all plastics are recycled, incinerated or landfilled after use – not reflecting the reality on the ground, where recycling levels are hugely variable and often extremely low, and a substantial fraction of plastic packaging ends up leaked into the environment. It also routinely fails to look at package-free or reusable options, which the report shows are on the rise across Europe, albeit in need of political support.

The European Commission steps forward to reduce plastic pollution

  • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Brussels, 16/01/18

    Today the European Commission has stepped forward to address plastic pollution with the release of its Strategy on Plastics in the Circular Economy, says the Rethink Plastic alliance.

    The Strategy lays out the Commission’s approach to reduce the impact of plastic pollution, including a commitment to investigate the scope of a legislative initiative on single-use plastics. [1]

    “The European Commission is showing willingness to tackle the plastic pollution crisis”, said Delphine Lévi Alvarès, coordinator of Rethink Plastic, “but it is now essential to bring forward ambitious legislation to drastically reduce the consumption of both single-use plastic items and packaging within this Commission’s term”.

    Rethink Plastic also welcomes the fact that the Commission has started the process to restrict the use of intentionally added microplastics in products such as cosmetics and detergents under the REACH legislation, and hopes that this will lead to a comprehensive ban of all microplastic ingredients.

    The Commission also announced a ban on oxoplastics. [2] “This is an important environmental win. There is no place for oxo-plastics in a true circular economy, and a ban is urgently needed”, said Lévi Alvarès.

    In addition, Rethink Plastic:

  •  – Welcomes the intention behind the objective that all plastics packaging on the EU market can be reused or recycled by 2030. However, the absence of a clear target and the inclusion that recycling must be “cost-effective” lessens the impact of the aim. This needs to be seen as a real opportunity to make all plastic packaging toxic free and environmentally sound.

 – Underlines that voluntary agreements and pledges expected to be developed by industry should in no way replace political action.

 – Welcomes measures to prevent the loss of pre-production plastic pellets, the second largest source of microplastic pollution, and notably the potential development of a certification scheme along the plastics supply chain to prevent pellet loss.

  •  – Welcomes the development of new measures to reduce the loss of fishing gear at sea, including possible recycling targets or deposit schemes to disincentivise dumping.

The Rethink Plastic alliance expects the European Commission to deliver, within its term, on the above commitments, and show true global leadership towards a future free from plastic pollution.

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NOTES:
[1] http://europa.eu/rapid/midday-express.htm
[2] Oxoplastics are supposedly biodegradable plastics, which in reality break down into small fragments and contribute to harmful microplastic pollution in the oceans and other ecosystems. Over 150 organisations called for an outright ban in 2017. More information here.

MORE INFORMATION:
– A 3 minutes video on the plastic pollution crisis, by EBB and Rethink Plastic
– EU countries dump more than 100,000 tonnes of plastic in the sea every year, of which almost 50% is single-use items.
– Bottles, throwaway packaging and cigarette butts are the most common littered objects polluting our seas.
– The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050 if governments don’t take immediate action.