Why do we need plastic packaging?
Plastic packaging serves several important functions in our modern lives, which are the primary reasons we rely on it.
1. Protection: Protects vulnerable products from damage whilst in transit and from contamination or damage by moisture, humidity, gasses, microorganisms, insects, and light.
2. Preservation: Preserves products for longer, which reduces waste by giving people more time to use or consume them before it is no longer suitable to do so.
3. Prevents waste: Products kept together and spillages avoided.
4. Transportation: Allows transport over great distances, so that we have access to a wide variety of non-local produce that, in turn, encourages trade. It also saves space through stacking objects which makes transporting more efficient.
5. Displays information: Important information about the product, such as nutritional content or allergy advice, is displayed on the packaging.
What happens without plastic packaging?
Plastic packaging is one of the most important contributors to protecting food from spoiling. Food waste has a significantly higher environmental impact, particularly in the form of its carbon footprint than packaging waste. Plastic packaging allows food to travel further distances, stay longer on the shelves, and ensures that large amounts of food do not go to waste. Because it takes considerably more resources to create the food itself, it often makes environmental sense to protect it for as long as possible so the resources invested in its growth are not wasted.
As well as helping to deliver food around our global economy, liquids, gels, powders, out-of-season fruit, and other specialist items are all safely protected by the material. There are many types of plastic that have different functional properties such as being safe for food, flexible, transparent, opaque, and chemical and heat resistant. Plastics thus are the ideal packaging material for a variety of modern requirements. Without plastic packaging to serve all these needs, it becomes very difficult (and often impossible) to transport and utilize a wide range of products people rely on every day.
There is too much packaging, isn't there?
Generally speaking, the packaging is used where it makes economic, environmental, and safety sense to do so. Of course, not every product is optimally packaged, and there is important room for improvement where each of these three factors is concerned. The amount of material used in packaging has been in decline for years: between 2004 to 2014 the average plastic packaging weight fell by 28%. This has happened as a consequence of improved technologies and design that enable a similar product or package to be produced with less amounts of materials.
Plastic packaging is also an important component to keeping the lifecycle environmental impact of a product down. Due to the resource efficiency involved in the creation of plastic packaging, environmental costs are saved by using this material compared to replacing it with others. Environmental costs in this case include damage to the environment such as carbon and greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere. However, it is also important to consider the plastic packaging items that are littered, which can end up in our rivers and seas. These damaging environmental consequences also require significant focus from governments around the world, to ensure these items do not end up in these environments, and that they are collected for recovery and recycling in every possible case.
Benefits of using plastic packaging:-
1. Lightweight: plastic packaging is lightweight and can take up less space than alternatives, which means lighter loads for planes and trucks and lower emissions.
2. Secure: plastic can be sealed shut or moulded into a safety mechanism.
3. Durable: because plastic packaging is so durable, plastic packaging can be very thin. This means it uses fewer resources and takes up less space for transport which means fewer trucks, trains, or planes are needed to transport it.
4. Versatile: plastics can be transformed in many different ways. They can be blown, injected, or Thermo moulded. This means it can be used to package pasta and sauces. A variety of decorative effects and colors are also available.
The correct way of using plastics: We should only use plastics that are recyclable and reusable. The process of the 3 R's can help us reduce plastic waste. Plastic is a good, useful product only if we use recyclable plastic material.
