Turning the tide on plastic food packaging

Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic make their way into our oceans. Disposable plastic bags, bottles, containers, and wrappers, account for 44% of all trash. It's time to stop using plastic food packaging.

Few things can be compared with the joy of spending time enjoying our oceans during the summer months. Often, while we drink a nice refreshing soft drink from a plastic bottle or eat a delicious meal using conveniently disposable plastic containers and cutlery. We do this totally oblivious about the negative consequences that our lifestyle, and in particular single-plastic usage, is having on our oceans.

Over the last decades we have seen how the "plastification" of our oceans has become a great threat to the planet. Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic make their way into the deep seas, carried by the currents of rivers and lakes. The consequences are devastating for the ecosystem as plastic litter infiltrates the entire marine system – from plankton to sperm whales.

The food industry, and in particular single plastic usage, is responsible for a significant amount of plastic debris. Disposable plastic bags, bottles, containers, and wrappers, account for 44% of all trash in the sea.

Why is food packaging necessary?

Packaging is necessary to protect food during transport and in general to work as a barrier from chemicals, particles, and bacteria. Besides, it provides space for labels containing information that consumers would want to know - ingredients, allergies, usage dates-, and that comply with for-consumption goods regulations.

The type of material used in food packaging will depend on customers’ preferences as well as the nature of the food products themselves. Generally, most food packaging consists of either glass, cardboard, metal, plastic, or a mix of them.

The main challenge with recycling food packaging comes from the fact that often we are looking at multi-material usage. It’s difficult to find a material that can block the light and be waterproof at the same time, which leads to having to use various materials eg. paper container lined with plastic. This makes it unsuitable for recycling

Polyethylene and the food industry

Widely used by the food industry, Polyethylene is the most produced plastic and one of the three plastics most found in the debris of our oceans. This has huge consequences as only only 9% of plastic waste gets recycled. The rest is either burned or dumped. Below we can see a table with some of the most common single plastic use items made of this material.

Who is behind single-plastic products?

Single-plastic usage became a wide spread phenomenon in the 80s. Nowadays, twenty companies are the source of more than half of all single-use plastic thrown away globally. ExxonMobil contributes 5.9 million tonnes to global plastic waste, followed by US chemicals company Dow and China’s Sinopec. One hundred companies are behind 90 per cent of global single-use plastic production.

Close to 60 per cent of the commercial finance funding of single-use production comes from just 20 global banks, which include Barclays, HSBC and Bank of America.

Twenty asset managers led by US companies Vanguard Group, BlackRock and Capital Group – hold over US$300 billion worth of shares in the parent companies of single-use plastic polymer producers.

How can we become part of the solution

The amount of plastic in our oceans is growing exponentially. Scientists reckon that it will quadruple over the next 30 years. Besides, it has been reported that single plastic may take up to 1000 years to decompose.

These are some of the actions we all can take to become part of the solution:



🌊 Use Less Plastic in Your Kitchen: consider alternatives to plastic storage and plastic wrap, like beeswax wrappers, glassware with silicone lids, canning jars or simply a kitchen bowl with a plate placed on top.

🌊 Avoid plastic cutlery, cups and plates — or paper plates lined with plastic. Instead, buy or borrow reusable or compostable party ware.

🌊 When getting take always, say no to single-use plastic items.

🌊 Carry a reusable coffee mug and/or bottle of water with you when you are out and about.

🌊 If dining out and planning on taking leftovers home, consider bringing your own container.

🌊 Bring reusable or cloth bags when doing grocery shopping.

🌊 Make sure you clean all your food packaging as any plastic material with food residues on it, cannot be recycled.

🌊 Select fruits and vegetables from a bin, rather than pre-packed units.

🌊 Eat fewer processed foods, which tend to have more plastic packaging.

🌊 Shop at a Zero Waste Grocery Store where you can bring your own containers and fill them from a bin.

Over 1 million marine animals are killed each year due to plastic debris in the ocean. Sharks, whales, turtles, and more are dying because of plastic that injures them or blocks their airways. Besides the amount of plastic in our oceans is growing exponentially. Scientists reckon that it will quadruple over the next 30 years. Tackling single plastic usage is the single most efficient thing we can do in our daily lives to contribute to protect our oceans.

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