Abstract
Over the years, the world was not paying strict attention to the impact of rapid growth in plastic use. This has led to unprecedented amounts of mixed types of plastic waste entering the environment unmanaged. Packaging plastics account for half of the global total plastic waste. This paper seeks to give an overview of the use, disposal, and regulation of food packaging plastics. Demand for food packaging is on the rise as a result of increasing global demand for food due to population growth. Most of the food packaging are used on-the-go and are single use plastics that are disposed of within a short space of time. The bulk of this plastic waste has found its way into the environment contaminating land, water and the food chain. The food industry is encouraged to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging materials. A wholistic approach to waste management will need to involve all stakeholders working to achieve a circular economy. A robust approach to prevent pollution today rather than handling the waste in the future should be adopted especially in Africa where there is high population growth.
Highlights
Food packaging has evolved to be a key aspect to successful food industries serving fast foods, ready meals, on-the-go beverages and snacks among others [1]
This current work seeks to present a detailed summary of consolidated key aspects of food packaging plastic waste management beginning from the production of plastics, their usage and disposal, and focuses on the reduce, reuse, and recycle concepts to achieve a circular economy
Plastics form a significant portion of municipal solid waste (MSW) and these plastics include a considerable amount of packaging waste [54]
Summary
Food packaging has evolved to be a key aspect to successful food industries serving fast foods, ready meals, on-the-go beverages and snacks among others [1]. It is worth noting that many reviews have discussed the challenges presented by the use of plastics This current work seeks to present a detailed summary of consolidated key aspects of food packaging plastic waste management beginning from the production of plastics, their usage and disposal, and focuses on the reduce, reuse, and recycle concepts to achieve a circular economy. It presents an update on the plastic waste management situation in Africa, a continent feared to contribute more plastic food packaging waste in the future
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