29 September is the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste — an important reminder that sustainability is not only about reducing packaging. It is also about preventing the loss of the food and resources that packaging protects.

Plastic packaging has an important role to play: it helps keep food fresh and safe for longer, extends shelf life, protects products against contamination and reduces breakage, damage and spoilage during transport and handling. It also allows consumers to store and portion food more effectively — giving us more time to eat what we buy instead of throwing it away.

In South Africa, more than 10 million tonnes of edible food is lost or wasted every year — equivalent to roughly a third of the food we produce*.

The challenge is therefore not simply to use less packaging. It is to use the right packaging, in the right amount, designed to protect food effectively and to extend shelf life.

Removing or reducing packaging without considering its function can have unintended consequences. When food is damaged or spoiled before it reaches the table, we don’t only waste the food itself. We also waste the water, energy, land, labour and transport that went into producing and delivering it.

The goal should therefore be fit-for-purpose packaging: designed to protect the product effectively, extend its useful life, use resources efficiently and be responsibly managed and recycled after use.

a little packaging can prevent a lot of waste.

(* CSIR reference)