Seeking sustainable packaging solutions

PALM DESERT, Calif. — The produce industry faces challenges in its quest for more sustainable packaging solutions and reduced waste. At The Packer’s recent Sustainable Produce Summit in Palm Desert, Calif., panelists explored how to overcome these challenges in a session titled, “Sustainable Packaging: Beyond the Box.”

Click here to watch the full 2022 Sustainable Produce Summit On-Demand. 

One key challenge is consumer confusion. What can and can’t be recycled? What are the ins and outs of industrial versus home composting and what is the end-of-life reality for different types of packaging?

Panelist Stephanie Morris, sustainability coordinator for Jimbo’s, a Southern California-based natural grocer with four stores, said she has seen the confusion firsthand.

As a natural grocer committed to reducing food and packaging waste, (it introduced a plastic-free water aisle at its flagship store in 2019), Jimbo’s works to “demystify the recycling conundrum” for its shoppers, said Morris.

“For our consumers and as a consumer, it's been helpful for me to think about how something is recycled. There are all these different types of plastics. There are different types of certification for compostability now, so understanding and kind of shedding light on the imperfect system that is recycling and industrial and home composting is helpful,” she said.

People will “just throw it away if it’s too confusing” or they don’t know what to do with it,” affirmed panelist Tracy Gilmore, director of sales and marketing, North America for the Denmark-based Schur Packaging Systems.

“The one thing that I think we as suppliers need to do is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” continued Gilmore, who urged all players across the supply chain to come together in finding environmentally safe packaging solutions and better communicating these solutions to the consumer.

“Again, I can only say, ‘educate, educate, educate.’ But if I'm going to the store to get food, I'm not going [there] to be educated. So, we've got to make [the message] simple. We've got to make it easy.”

Cost is another challenge, especially with compostable packaging.

“Compostable packaging is part of a multifaceted solution. So, there is a place for compostable packaging — absolutely — but there are also challenges with it as well,” said panelist Michael Rincon, director of operations for Emerald Packaging in Union City, Calif.

“When you start looking at economies of scale to replace a rigid or flexible package with compostable solutions, you need a lot of land and a lot of infrastructure, which costs a lot of money,” he continued. At a certain point, it becomes a question of whether the land is more valuable for compostable material, food or housing, he added.

And like his fellow panelists, Rincon also sees consumer confusion adding to the challenge.

“Most people don't know how to use the end of life,” he said. “They have a piece of compostable material — does it go into the trash? Does it go into the recycling? Does it go into the compost bin? So, really, even with the investment in infrastructure and scaling, if the end consumer doesn't know how to properly dispose of their package, all they're going to do is cause headaches by contaminating a waste stream for somebody else,” said Rincon, adding that another challenge is a lack of national legislation for recycling and composting.

Informing the consumer

When it comes to educating the consumer about sustainable packaging and reducing food waste, panelist Marco Bini, CEO of the Exeter, Calif.-based automation and packaging technology company NEXXT Solutions, says he would rather talk about consumer information.

“We cannot expect the consumer to become a scientist” in order to understand composting, said Bini. Brainstorming on stage, Bini proposed that one solution might be the implementation of an easy-to-digest grading system complemented by in-store kiosks, where consumers could learn more about different types of packaging or the “sustainability value” of a product through a QR code.

“It’s not enough for us to talk about what happens after the package is being used,” Bini said. “We need to understand also, what type of carbon footprint fossil fuel usage the package has in the production process, because that's going to impact how the consumer ultimately is going to judge that type of packaging.”

Informing consumers about what happens to waste when it leaves the store and their kitchens in their hometown is an important piece of the puzzle, Morris agreed.

“To figure out how this linear system can become more circular … it takes retailers, suppliers, farmers, customers and everyone in between,” she said. As sustainability coordinator for Jimbo’s, Morris sees talking with all the players involved as a step in the right direction.

“At Jimbo’s, we have vendor packaging standards, and the goal there is not to demand compostable or any specific need — the real purpose of it is just to start that conversation,” she said.

When asked if consumers are more concerned with upstream sustainable packaging (everything that went into making the product) or downstream sustainable packaging (everything that happens to the package after use), Morris replied, “Amazing question. I think it depends on the consumer.

“Our consumers are looking for organic. They're very familiar with reading labels already, so they aren't too far off from questioning the kinds of packaging that we're looking at,” Morris continued. “I imagine that with most consumers … the downstream is much more top of mind. But again, it’s about a conversation. It's important to educate them about lifecycle because obviously there are questions about it and there are companies that care about their lifecycles.”

The importance of packaging

With any discussion of sustainability, it’s important to remember that packaging also plays a key role in reducing food waste, said panelist Scott Howarth, Ph.D., director of research and development, Sinclair Systems International in Fresno, Calif. He pointed to a study conducted by the United Kingdom-based grocer Tesco, which looked at eliminating single-use plastics.

“What happened? Food waste went up — way up,” Howarth said. “So, there is a need for packaging and I think that's the first place to start.

Another factor to consider in the sustainable packaging conversation, Howarth said, “it's got to be functional. You've got to get that product through the supply chain. You have to protect it. You want to identify it. These things are very important to food safety.”

Related content: SPS Keynote Neil Stern shares secrets of success in produce retailing