Is Your Packaging Choice Based on Facts or Misconceptions?

In the fresh food sector, sustainable choices matter—but only when grounded in science, not perception. A comprehensive review of 53 peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies challenges common misconceptions and highlights why plastic packaging often performs better than alternatives across critical environmental metrics.

Key Findings:

Plastic vs. Paper: While paper is often viewed as eco-friendly, plastics require 4x less energy to produce, making them a far more efficient choice.

Plastic vs. Bioplastics: Contrary to popular belief, bioplastics rarely surpass conventional plastics on environmental impact metrics, questioning their perceived superiority.

Plastic vs. Glass: Plastic’s lightweight nature results in 7-10x fewer emissions compared to heavy glass, significantly lowering impacts like acid rain and smog.

Plastic vs. Aluminium: For food packaging, plastics outperform aluminium, which uses 3x more energy in production.

Weight Advantage: The lightness of plastics is key to their lower environmental footprint, especially when compared to heavier materials.

The Takeaway? From an LCA perspective, plastics consistently outperform other materials across environmental impact categories. These results challenge the widespread perception of plastics as inherently unsustainable, pointing to the value of evidence-based choices.

Download & Read the Facts for Yourself Or reach out to us to discuss how our sustainable packaging solutions can reduce your carbon footprint without compromising environmental goals.