© Marcell Viragh / Unsplash
© Jas Min / Unsplash
These are all small yet effective daily practices most of us already take to do our own little bit towards sustainability , which when added together and multiplied over time , makes a world of difference . However , despite these everyday rituals that we now barely notice our partaking in , the concept of packaging still has a long way to go before coming anywhere near sustainable . One of the biggest consumer items responsible for plastic packaging is , yes you guessed it : food . According to www . takeawaypackaging . co . uk , in the UK , it ’ s estimated that “ 2.2 million tonnes of plastic packaging enter the consumer market every year . In 2019 , a survey found that we generated around 11 billion items of packaging waste in a year .” A study of 1,200 workers found that the average lunch order had “ four packaged items , including sandwiches , crisps and snacks .” That ’ s a lot of plastic . Over just one week , these people could produce “ 20 separate items of non-recyclable packaging waste .” That average might easily equate to 80 or more missed opportunities to reuse or recycle food packaging in a month .
This means that the average person who bought their lunch every day from a supermarket , fast-food outlet or other takeaway services could “ generate nearly 1000 separate pieces of rubbish per year .” The worst part ? Around 46 % of plastic packaging is collected for recycling , and a lot of it isn ’ t recyclable . So what changes can we make to impact this poor packaging data ? The answer : look further back in time to those good old days that predate the Age of Plastic .
There ’ s evidence of humans using materials such as animal hides , cloth and glass to wrap and package food for many hundreds of years , but don ’ t worry – we ’ re not suggesting you switch your Tupperware for animal skin . The first real breakthroughs which led to food packaging as we would recognise today occurred in the 1800s . One great day in 1809 , a paperboard ( cardboard ) bag machine in a factory overseen by Robert Gair malfunctioned and led to the paperboard being folded and cut in one single motion . The malfunction caught Gair ’ s attention and made him realise that the machine could be more efficiently used to manufacture folding cartons and boxes . Gair seized upon this opportunity and began making such packaging items for major companies such as Kellogg ’ s and the National Biscuit Company , changing the face of food packaging forever .
It is here that perhaps the evolution of packaging should have stopped , and we may have been in slightly less of a packaging pickle than we are today . Now , many shops , especially small independent stores and artisan food outlets , have reverted back to the good old days of paper bags and cardboard boxes , which can happily be recycled , and in some cases reused several times . But what about pre-packaged food ? We look to Kent for the answers .
The rise of the supermarket came swiftly after its birth that was technically still less than 100 years ago here in the UK . As people started to jump onto the trend of bulk-buying big shops in one swift movement , many began to abandon visiting independent food shops that had been serving the public for hundreds of years . Throughout the 80s , 90s and 2000s , thousands of greengrocers , butchers , fishmongers , bakeries and more shut up shop for what they believed would be the last time – taking their paper bags with them . But come 2023 and we have entered a new age of artisan . With people ’ s recognition for the importance of supporting small , local , independent businesses being clearer than ever before , many of us have ditched the supermarkets for something better .
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