In a bid to support global efforts to halve food waste by 2030, the UN conducted research to monitor food waste on a global scale throughout 2021. The results revealed that households, retailers, restaurants and other food services wasted 931 million tonnes of food across the year* equating to around one third of all food produced. The area where packaging can play the strongest role in reducing food waste is through the extension of shelf life. This not only reduces food waste through preserving food for longer, but it can also help reduce other forms of waste by minimising deliveries and making food production lines more efficient. This is particularly important for the food-to-go market, which was rapidly expanding pre-pandemic and even though as consumers we have spent less time eating on the move in the last two years, changes in this market continue apace. No longer just the offering of fast-food establishments, the hot-food-on-the-go market has exploded in recent years with hot hold counters popping up in convenience stores, forecourts, and supermarkets. There has also been growth in the on-the-go market which caters to all daily mealtimes, including breakfast and evening meals alongside the more traditional lunchtime meal deals. All this activity means more varieties of food on the market and more potential for food waste. There are many different aspects to enhancing the life of a food product and in doing so reducing food waste, but packaging is an indispensable element. 2015 WRAP research identified that extending shelf life by just one day could save 250,000 tonnes of food waste in the UK annually***. There is a positive shift with an increase in demand for paperboard packaging and associated sealing machinery and solutions such as Modified Atmosphere Packaging (M.A.P.) are being utilised to further extend shelf life. As innovators of paperboard packaging solutions and suppliers of sealing machinery, Colpac are perfectly positioned to advise on the right food packaging solution including extending shelf life. “Packaging plays an increasingly central role in improving supply chain efficiency and reducing environmental impact,” explains Kate Berry, Colpac’s Head of Marketing & Product. “Selecting the right packaging solution for products and innovations in a market which is changing daily is vital. Therefore, it is essential that we, as food packaging suppliers, support our customers in combining their food with the right packaging solution which will ultimately benefit their consumers, supply chain and waste minimisation policies.” “This will not only help them increase the efficiency of their business and afford them with the flexibility to change their offering if consumers demand it, but also enable them to succeed in the ongoing battle to provide sustainable packaging solutions and to reduce food waste.” Full press release is also attached. Webpage link: https://colpacpackaging.com/the-relationship-between-food-packaging-and-food-waste/