Embracing environmentally friendly practices is important for individuals and companies. Growers, however, are faced with sustainable packaging options that are constantly evolving as to how bags, clamshells, pallet boxes, crates, labels, trays, flats, and films are made.
Compatibility between the product and the solution is important. This includes consideration of moisture, durability, and end-of-life options. Trends in packaging include biodegradable food wrap made from seeds; regenerative packaging made from recycled leaves and embedded with plantable seeds; and food waste that can be made into films. Mushrooms and fungi are materials being explored in new packaging.
How long it takes some packaging materials to degrade is one such factor. Koen Pack's website notes, for example, "Biodegradable (compostable) means that a product or packaging can degrade in a natural way by fungus and bacteria to water, CO2 and methane. It says nothing about the speed with which this happens and under what circumstances."
The website points out that "The added value of the compostable packaging is therefore mainly in the easy 'transport' of organic waste to the organic waste bin (increasing the separation efficiency of organic waste)."
Read more at Greenhouse Canada
