RPC backs Fresher for Longer packaging education program

Plastic packaging supplier RPC Group is taking part in a national program in the UK to alert secondary school students to the problems of food waste and encourage them to take actions to reduce unnecessary waste and help protect the environment.

Fresher for Longer forms a central part of WRAP’s ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign, which raises awareness of the issue of food waste while offering practical support and advice to the public to help them take action and save money

The Fresher for Longer initiative has been designed to help students understand how packaging protects food on its journey from field to fork, and how it can allow food to be kept fresh for longer in the home. Through the initiative, students will be encouraged to create their own behavior change campaigns to get their community sourcing, storing and cooking food in a more environmentally responsible way.

Fresher for Longer was set-up as a partnership by the Packaging Federation, the Industry Council for research on Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN), the Waste-Resources Action Programme (WRAP), Kent Resource Partnership, and the Food and Drink Federation. 

It forms a central part of WRAP’s ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign, which raises awareness of the issue of food waste while offering practical support and advice to the public to help them take action and save money.

The Fresher for Longer schools program has been created and delivered by Global Action Plan, a United Nations endorsed charity, which has worked with over 3,000 schools across the UK.

For RPC, the initiative is a key part of the company’s Sustainability Matters program, which aims to demonstrate the many environmental benefits of packaging in general, and plastics packaging in particular.

RPC is teaming up with Kettering Buccleuch Academy to sponsor the school’s involvement in the project, and provide on-going support and advice through hands-on workshop sessions and interactive learning activities.

RPC Group sustainability manager Katherine Fleet said: ‘A pro-active sustainability policy is a vital part of all our operations, and we are very proud to be taking part in this important campaign.

‘Packaging has an essential role to play in protecting and preserving products and it is vital that we promote this important message as widely as possible. 

‘The Fresher for Longer program is an ideal way to help students understand the many diverse ways in which we can be more environmentally responsible.’