FDF and INCPEN publish sustainability checklist for packaging

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and the Industry Council for research on Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN), two industry bodies in the UK, have published a sustainability checklist for packaging to help companies choose and optimize their packaging systems.

The checklist will support businesses in considering packaging as part of the total product system for delivering products from point of production to point of consumption

‘Packaging for people, planet and profit – a sustainability checklist’ has been written to provide practical guidance for companies to improve resource efficiency at all stages of a packaged product’s journey while ensuring that the essential functionality of the packaging is not compromised. Including references to relevant regulation and guidance, the checklist also encourages companies to go above and beyond legal requirements. Topics covered in the checklist include the functionality of packaging , and reuse, recovery and recycling.

FDF and INCPEN said the checklist will support businesses in considering packaging as part of the total product system for delivering products from point of production to point of consumption. This in turn will help strike the optimal balance between the Competing demands of designing packaging for optimum functionality, reuse and recovery considerations, and reduced transport impacts.

Helen Munday, chief scientific officer and director of food safety, science and sustainability at FDF, said: ‘This guidance will help businesses choose and optimize their use of packaging in ways that will contribute to a net improvement in the use of resources across the value chain. This improvement can be achieved whilst continuing to ensure that food safety and quality requirements are not compromised. We encourage all food and drink operators to use it.’

Jane Bickerstaffe, INCPEN director, added: ‘The checklist will help companies improve packaging for food and drink and other products, make it more consumer-friendly and make supply chains more resource-efficient. Supply chain companies are more aware of, and responsive to, environmental concerns than many businesses. This checklist will help them demonstrate that responsiveness to the public.’

INCPEN is a group of manufacturers and retailers from across the supply chain who carry out research to understand the environmental and social effects of packaging, and work together to promote resource efficient packaging for sustainable supply chains. FDF represents the food and drink manufacturing industry in the UK.

With a foreword from UK Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey, the checklist also represents the first deliverable under FDF’s Ambition 2025, an initiative to minimize the impact of used packaging associated with food and drink products, and to encourage innovation in packaging technology and design that contributes to overall product sustainability. More details about Ambition 2025 can be found here.

Access ‘Packaging for people, planet and profit – a sustainability checklist’ here, or download the checklist below