Research on the role of packaging in preventing food waste

Fredrik Wikström and Helén Williams have done research for many years on issues related to the environment and sustainability, and the role of packaging in reducing food waste. In collaboration with various actors, they aim to develop and spread new knowledge about the role of packaging in reducing food waste.

In 2019, the researchers received funding through the Lidl Future Initiative’s “Plastic Challenge” for the sustainability project “Transformative packaging design for sustainable development – the creation a guide for packaging design with the aim of reducing the total environmental impact”. The project aims to develop and spread new knowledge about food packaging among packaging developers and consumers, and within the project the researchers have developed a packaging guide, a handbook based on their research.

– It is necessary to reduce food waste in order for us to achieve the goals in Agenda 2030, says Helén Williams, associate professor in Environmental and Energy System, who is running the project together with Fredrik Wikström. Designing or choosing a packaging solution that considers the environmental impact of the material and the product throughout its life cycle is a complex task that includes many different factors. Our goal is to make this process as easy as possible with the help of our packaging guide.

The researchers have worked together with different actors, one of which is the graphic design school Brobygrafiska.

– Final year students enrolled in the packaging design programme have evaluated the packaging guide to see how it works in the hands of a designer/ packaging designer, as well as what conclusions they can draw from the guide, says Sara Larsson, head of graphic design at Brobygrafiska. My colleague Marie Falk and I have also studied how the students interpret the guide as well as evaluating the guide ourselves by looking at how it could be applied in the industry based on the work processes and the time available in the part of the packaging process where these decisions are made.

Sara Larsson says that the collaboration between CTF and Brobygrafiska is a good example of how co-operation between research and vocational education and training can contribute to spreading important knowledge from research directly to the industry it concerns.

In 2022, Fredrik Wikström and Helén Williams released the popular scientific book “Stoppa matsvinnet”. The book is addressed to anyone who in their professional life comes into contact with packaging or who has an interest in the environment. In addition to explaining the underlying causes of food waste, the authors provide practical tips and guidance on how producers and consumers can reduce waste.

– It is important that more people have easy access to knowledge about food waste and especially the role of packaging in reducing food waste, says Fredrik Wikström, professor of Environmental and Energy Systems. It is important in order to reduce the pressure both on the environment as well as your own wallet.

Packaging has a function and a bigger impact on food waste than most people think. In the end, it is the actual behaviour of people that determines how much food is actually thrown away, and in order to solve the issue of food waste, we need a paradigm shift in the way we view packaging, say the researchers.

– Packaging is often seen as something purely evil from an environmental point of view, says Helén Williams. Many times we forget the positive side – that packaging which protects the food and increases shelf life reduces the environmental impact, provided that the food is not thrown away, since less food needs to be produced. But to truly reduce the total environmental impact, there needs to be a balance between the negative and positive aspects of packaging.