Chemistry is reducing waste

Plastic has long been the answer for food packaging. However, single-use plastics cause significant environmental damage and degradation. Part of the solution is in finding more sustainable and scalable alternatives. The other solution is improving the shelf-life of foods – a recent study found that 50% of the total environmental impact of the food supply chain is due to food waste.

Chemical science is already creating the answers.

Biodegradable polymers made from seaweed and other plants may be part of the solution. Seaweed is quick growing and uses the same manufacturing processes as plastic from fossil fuels. Notpla, which sprung from Imperial College London, creates truly sustainable packaging solutions from seaweed and plants that disappear naturally, giving consumers the convenience of single-use, without the plastic waste. Their products include its edible liquid packaging, Ooho, its takeaway box coating and single-use film sachet replacements. For some time, BASF been helping companies optimise packaging with innovative chemistry and reduce food waste by improving processes to make them more efficient. And UK research and development company Mimica has developed a product called Bump that uses gel chemistry to reduce unnecessary food and drink waste. It encourages consumers to store food at the right temperature which maximises the shelf life, saving perfectly good food from being wasted.