Save Food initiative promotes biodegradable packaging tech for mitigating food waste

04 Oct 2022 --- Food is undoubtedly becoming more and more expensive. With a ballooning global population and food safety moving further into the spotlight, industry is looking at efficient ways to protect resources.

The Save Food initiative, founded by Germany’s Messe Düsseldorf and Interpack, is fighting to reduce food loss and waste, aiming to create public awareness and solutions in cooperation with politics, society and industry.

Bernd Jablonowski, executive director at Messe Düsseldorf, tells FoodIngredientsFirst about the company’s efforts to leverage new packaging technologies and employ food saving techniques to save mango harvests from rotting away unused.

“Save Food is a crucial part of Messe Düsseldorf’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on the environment and society. We are looking at the entire food value chain, but are focusing on possible solutions from the processing and packaging industry,” he explains. 

“Save Food is our direct contribution to reaching SDG 12.3 – reducing and fighting the food waste,” he notes. Food is becoming increasingly expensive as inflation bites and supply chains suffer.

“With our Interpack product family, we have a high level of international expertise in this sector. We can create awareness and promote innovation in a targeted way.”

The role of packaging
Food is becoming more expensive, that’s a fact, stresses Jablonowski, noting how industry players can “protect it better.” But what can protect it? The packaging, he underscores. 

While packaging has a protective function and helps to reduce the loss of food, un-recycled plastic waste, however, is one of the biggest problems for the environment.

Novel packaging materials can offer an essential contribution to reducing this waste. Consumers’ growing demand for environmentally friendly, recyclable packaging provides an additional impulse to research biodegradable and compostable alternatives to plastics.

“The aim is to get as much food and water as possible to the consumer safely, affordably and without loss,” says Jablonowski.

“The packaging and processing industry has a key role to play,” he highlights. “There are always new approaches and innovations, such as how the production process can be made safer and how digital technologies can increase safety while new materials still ensure environmental compatibility. 

“Investing in protective packaging pays off. But we must ask ourselves: What can I do to throw away less?”

From the field into the home
A large study by the Bahçeşehir University (BAU) is also among the latest projects of the Save Food initiative. Its goal is to produce biodegradable food packaging from food waste or byproducts of food production.

Biodegradable packaging technology has evolved significantly over the past year. Among recent examples, The Indian Institute of Technology piloted antioxidant-rich edible active films and coatings from micro-algae extract that extend shelf life – offering fresh produce a new lease of life.

A PackagingInsights report highlighted that compostable packaging demand is growing rapidly, but improved collection and recycling infrastructure and clearer product labeling are still required to support the market’s expansion and enhance cost-competitiveness. 

According to Innova Market Insights, food and beverage launches with compostable claims have grown 49% on average since 2018. Meanwhile, 28% of global consumers perceive biodegradable or compostable packaging as the most environmentally sustainable packaging option, followed by reusable (22%) and recyclable (21%) packaging.

The BAU will work on their pilot project with a partner from the packaging industry and one from the food sector. Its study is supported by the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, as well as by Interpack. A prototype will be presented at Interpack 2023.The packaging and processing industry plays a vital role in food loss and waste.

Saving mangoes
Various campaigns, studies and events have meant that Save Food now has around 750 partners reducing food loss and waste. 

With the FAO, the organization has formed the basis for further research on projects, such as the Mango Project in 2014. 

At that time, a study showed that 300,000 metric tons of the mango harvest in Kenya were lost because they could not be processed in time. Save Food ensured that a company could be set up to save a large part of the mangoes by drying them. 

The initiative has initiated a new project with the BAU in Istanbul, Turkey, to produce biodegradable food packaging from food waste and by-products of food production.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, projects have been partially put on hold. “Now, there is a re-start with plans and future projects,” says Jablonowski. 

“We encourage innovation and call attention to issues worldwide.”

Food security in the spotlight 
With rising prices, disturbances in delivery chains and climate change, the world is faced with a food crisis. 

“Food production will continue to increase,” says Jablonowski. “So, of course, we should make the best use of our resources. This is also evident in the energy crisis that many countries are facing. The food production process requires a lot of resources – energy, heat, water and so on.”

“We simply cannot afford to waste this on such a scale,” he urges. 

By Elizabeth Green