Plastic Food Packaging Problems

According to statistics about 60 of china s food packaging materials there are security risks.

Plastic food packaging problems.

Designs have to be able to ensure that public health issues like cross contamination won t occur. The impacts of packaging on the environment. 2 1 safety of packaging materials. But many of those seemingly safe containers may have hazardous chemicals lurking.

Often the sustainable options are limited. In the food market used in plastic bags plastic bottles plastic barrels of food packaging accounted for the majority. In 2014 out of the 258 million tons of municipal solid waste generated in the us. Current problems in food packaging in china.

Avoid use of plastic containers with the number 3 or. Solving the plastic packaging problem. By liz gyekye 21st december 2018 1st february 2019 0 3143. And because plastic is both strong and lightweight it helps.

Progressive food establishments have traded it and other hazardous packaging for safer plant based alternatives. The most common were polypropylene which is found in bottle caps and rope and polyethylene from drinking bottles and plastic bags. Certain plastic products are specifically designed to be used once or for a short time to help promote health and sanitary conditions think bandages contacts personal hygiene. From soda bottles to plastic wrapping for food to product packaging or even plastic products themselves our obsession with cheap disposable products has created a serious environmental crisis.

The problem is that most fiber food packaging provides good physical and uv light barriers but isn t a good enough barrier for liquids on its own and so requires plastic coatings or other additives like perfluorinated chemicals pfas which can render them unable to be recycled in the case of a plastic lining or might be detrimental to. Food packaging for example is one of the biggest hurdles because consumer safety is paramount. Styrene another chemical found in plastic and food packaging has been linked to nervous system dysfunction hearing loss cancer and more. Another category plastic food packaging helps keep our food clean and safe and extends freshness.

One study detected nine different types of plastics ingested by humans through food or dust. Plastics are in the human food chain as well. Yet perhaps the most fundamental problem trasande. Unfortunately most packaging is designed as single use and is typically thrown away rather than reused or recycled.