Food And Beverage Packaging And Waste Reduction

Australia is one of the top generators of household waste in the world. Indeed, this country places among the top ten of OECD, or Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, countries when it comes to household waste productions. Interestingly enough, the food and beverage packaging industry helps to mitigate and lessen those numbers by a considerable degree. Indeed, packaging suppliers do their own part to help improve the health of the planet each and every day.

Waste In Australia

In order to get a handle on the contributions that are made by the food packaging industry when it comes to waste in Australia, it helps to have a basic understanding of the numbers. Approximately 2.2 million tonnes of food waste is produced in this country each year. Were it not for food packaging suppliers, it would be considerably more. Each family in Australia generates about 400 kilograms of waste per year. These numbers definitely put Australia's role in waste production into perspective.

Why Reducing Waste Is Important

Most people realise that reducing waste is an important way to help save the planet. Reducing the amount of organic waste that's found in waste streams is extremely critical, since doing so could reduce Australia's greenhouse emissions by up to three percent. Additionally, reducing the waste could help reduce the size of landfills around the country. Unquestionably, waste reduction is extremely important - and the Australian food and beverage packaging industries are doing as much as they can to help.

What Is Saved Through Recycling?

Recycling is a core part of the food packaging industry's philosophy. Considering all of the good that is accomplished by every household that recycles, it's plain to see why this industry places such an emphasis on it. For every household that actively recycles, enough energy is saved to run a 40-watt light globe for about 72 hours. Over 90 litres of water are saved per week through such efforts, and about 3.6 kilograms of solid waste are saved per week as well. Every little bit definitely helps, which is why food packaging suppliers make sure to do their own part.

How Packaging's Been Reduced

Since more emphasis has been placed on waste reduction, the food and beverage packaging industry has enacted many key changes to help. For instance, the soft drink industry - which once required about 453 grams of packaging to distribute and manufacturing a single litre of soft drink - has cut back considerably. Today, that industry only requires about 150 grams per litre of soft drink; that marks a 67% reduction, which isn't an inconsiderable sum. As more and more changes like that occur in the packaging industry, waste reduction should accelerate by a very large amount.