Save food packaging design criteria: packaging solutions to reduce household food waste
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 Save food packaging design criteria: packaging solutions to reduce household food waste
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Household food waste accounts for half of all food wasted globally, bearing significant environmental, economic and social impacts. In Australia, households generate 2.46 million tonnes of food waste annually, equivalent to A$2000–2500 worth of food per household. Reducing food waste is widely seen as a significant way to lower carbon emissions, save money and increase food security — for a more sustainable future. Packaging is one way to reduce household food waste. How consumers interact with or use packaging can affect food waste. Ideally, packaging should be designed and implemented by key actors in the food/beverage–packaging industry to fit with consumers’ needs and food practices. Aligning packaging with consumer behaviour could increase packaging’s effectiveness in supporting consumers to reduce household food waste.
This industry report presents key actionable insights and recommendations from three open-access journal papers published during a PhD research study that aimed to improve the potential of Save Food Packaging solutions to reduce household food waste.
The insights and recommendations presented in this report were developed through a research process that considered industry and consumer factors identified from academic literature, industry publications, and interviews with consumer and industry participants. The PhD research identified opportunities for key actors within the food/beverage–packaging industry to implement SFP in ways that can better meet consumers’ needs to reduce household food waste. This aligns with a key purpose of the 1.2.1 Save Food Packaging Criteria and Framework research project: to provide food manufacturers, brand owners and packaging suppliers with appropriate tools to minimise food loss and waste through their product packaging design processes.
Key insights have been grouped into three categories. They include:
- Ensuring that packaging solutions meet consumers’ needs to reduce household food waste.
- Encouraging industry to prioritise SFP to reduce household food waste.
- Fostering communication and collaboration between researchers, consumers and industry to design and implement SFP to reduce household food waste.
