Sustainable Food Packaging: An Integrative Framework

Romina Santi, Paola Garrone, Mattia Iannantuoni and Barbara Del Curto
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Romina Santi: Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Via Luigi Mancinelli 7, 20131 Milan, Italy
Paola Garrone: Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4b, 20156 Milan, Italy
Mattia Iannantuoni: Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4b, 20156 Milan, Italy
Barbara Del Curto: Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Via Luigi Mancinelli 7, 20131 Milan, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-17

Abstract: The paper proposes a comprehensive and operational definition of Sustainable Food Packaging (SFP). Sustainability is a multifaceted concept, yet most SFP conversations decline it as a mere material substitution issue. The efforts of regulators, packaging producers, food companies, and consumers towards the design and adoption of SFP products are likely to fail without a common understanding of the multiple means by which food packaging contributes to sustainability. Based on an extensive literature review and the contributions of SFP innovation experts, the paper builds a Food Packaging Sustainability Framework (FPSF) that encompasses the three main dimensions of SFP, namely environmental conservation, food safety, and social value, and operationalizes them in terms of objectives and activable levers. The framework can be used as a tool to search and evaluate food packaging products, a conceptual guide for SFP design, and a narrative platform for coordinating supply chain actors, including consumers. The experimental activities applying FPSF gathered the different actors in the supply chain to jointly adopt the integrated model that distributes environmental, social, and economic benefits along the entire production chain.

Keywords: food packaging; sustainability; supply chain; food packaging design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:13:p:8045-:d:853520

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