However, some may get the impression that all packaging is environmentally unfriendly. This is wrong. Without packaging, a lot more food would be thrown away, says Kari Bunes Næringslivets, of the Packaging optimization Committee (NOK).
She illustrates this with Bama's experience with the sale of grapes in Norway. In the past, grapes were mostly sold in bulk, and about 10-15 percent was wasted en route to or in the shop. After customised packaging was introduced, however, waste has been significantly reduced to just 1-2 percent.
Similar results have been achieved with cherries, for which waste has been reduced from 15 to 2 percent after the switch from bulk to packaging.
Kari Bunes also emphasises that throwing food away is more environmentally harmful than wasting packaging, as the latter can be recycled.
According to Green Dot Norway, 7 out of 10 households recycle plastic. Each kilo of plastic recycled reduces CO2 emissions by between 1.5 and 2.5 kilos.
Source: siste.no