Food packaging in the circular economy: Overview of chemical safety aspects for commonly used materials

Advances in food packaging play an important role in keeping food manufacturing and food supply safe. Food packaging facilitates the storage, handling, transportation and preservation of food, and also contributes to the minimization of food waste. On the other hand, food packaging materials have high production volumes, short usage times, and accelerate the occurrence of environmental problems related to waste. The circular economy has already been introduced to pursue sustainability through resource conservation and recycling, and to reduce waste and carbon emissions. By activating an eco-friendly economic system that minimizes resource depletion and environmental pollution, reducing, reusing, recycling and redesigning the goals of the circular economy will reduce the impact of food packaging on the environment. This review focused on the safety aspects of recycled food packaging as recycling is currently considered an important means of packaging waste management. Assessing the safety of recycled packaging is very important because recycling can increase the levels of potentially hazardous chemicals in packaging and in the food after they are migrated. Various food packaging materials such as plastic, paper and cardboard, aluminum, steel, and multi-material multi-layers packaging are commonly used, but only the recycling safety of plastic food packaging materials, which is the most used and has a significant increase in post-use problem, is discussed in this review.

Food packaging is essential for storage, handling, transport, and preservation of food, keeping food wastage and loss at a minimum level. Various materials such as plastic, glass, wood, metal, plant parts, etc. are being used as food packaging, with plastic dominating the field. However, most of the food packages developed today are disposed of after their first use. This raises concerns about the environmental impact of the packaging. Various strategies such as recycling, reducing, and reusing of packaging have the potential to decrease this impact. There is a rising demand for the development of effective and efficient sustainable packaging, which is safe for health and the environment. This chapter discusses the different food packaging materials and the environmental impacts of food packaging and the waste management methods along with the regulations for the packaging materials.

Packaging has been with humans for thousands of years in one form or the other. Previously, it was by shaping different materials in to packaging material like glass pottery and paper. Modern food packaging is believed to have begun in the 19th century with the invention of canning. The packaging system by now reach at capable of carrying out intelligent functions (such as detecting, sensing, recording, tracing, communicating, and applying scientific logic) to facilitate decision making to extend shelf life, enhance safety, improve quality, provide information, and warn about possible problems. Basically, packaging has roles like protection, reduce waste, product freshness and enhance sales in a competitive environment. However, the properties of the packaging material, the type of food/beverage to be packaged, possible food/package interactions, the intended market for the product, eventual package disposal, and costs should also considered during packaging since it has a great harm. This review was initiated with the objective to know about food and beverage packaging materials and their impact. The information about food packaging materials and their impact was collected from different publications over the past decade, research reports and databases from different organization were also reviewed. Various on-line sources including Google Scholar were browsed using some important key terms such as food packaging materials, history of food packaging, role of food packaging and the impact.

In this article, we discuss carbon nanoparticles for application as antibacterials and food-packaging materials. The use of petroleum-derived products, synthetic materials, ceramics, wax, etc. in the food-packaging industry emits polluted gas and wastewater, which leads to environmental pollution. To overcome the problems faced by the industry to preserve and package food, carbon nanomaterials may be good alternatives to enhance the shelf life of food without affecting the nutrients. Carbon atoms bond with each other in diverse ways to form many allotropes, resulting in a variety of carbon nanomaterials (CNMs). CNMs include zero-dimensional carbon dots, graphene quantum dots, 1-dimensional carbon nanotubes, 2-dimensional pristine graphene, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide, and other derivatives of graphene. Most of the carbon-based nanomaterials are synthesized through a green process that is widely used in the field of food science and technology, and they are used mostly as antibacterial agents and as a biofiller in the development of active food-packaging materials. Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs), viz., carbon dots, graphene, activated carbon-based nanocomposites, carbon nanotubes, etc., are found to be environmentally benign and better materials for food packaging. With antibacterial efficiency, they support food preservation and other applications as well. Thus, carbon nanostructures are found to be applicable as superior materials for food preservation and packaging in modern industry.

This article provides a systematic literature review on the integrated approach of bio-based plastic food packaging in a circular economy. It focuses on the following key areas: (1) the role of bio-based plastic food packaging in a circular product design strategy and material choice in the preproduction life cycle stage; (2) the role of bio-based plastic food packaging in circular resource management systems and the product disposal life cycle stage; and (3) an optimal bio-based plastic food packaging application in regard to prioritising end-of-life treatment. While there are dedicated publications on the role of packaging in a circular economy, circular packaging design, packaging waste management, and bio-origin plastic applications in food packaging, this article aims to provide an integrated review and recommendations on the best bio-based plastic food packaging material selection, applications based on a circular economy, and scenarios on waste/resource management that prioritise end-of-life treatment. Three of the current most popular bio-based plastic materials in the flexible and rigid food packaging categories were selected: starch blends, bio-PE, and PLA for flexible food packaging and PLA, bio-PET, and bio-PE for rigid packaging. This article highlights the fact that a smart material choice in the circular design strategy is a key factor that has a direct impact on the last packaging life cycle stage (disposal), and concludes that bio-based plastic materials are a way to close the food packaging loop, either by re-use or recycling. This article also provides recommendations on the best bio-based plastic food packaging material selection, and applications based on the circular economy and waste management that prioritise end-of-life treatment. The research results indicate a research niche for the application of re-usable biodegradable materials in food packaging. The findings of this research allow product designers and packaging companies to advance the understanding of the most efficient bio-based plastic food packaging integration into the circular economy via decision making of product material choice and end-of-life treatment. Based on the results of this article, scholars can develop new themes for further research.

With the increasing demand for food quality and the need for green and sustainable development of food packaging materials in the environment, the preparation and optimization of multifunctional natural and renewable antibacterial packaging materials have become an important trend. This article aims to explore the development of chitosan-cellulose composite materials with good antibacterial properties and promote the widespread application of chitosan and cellulose in food packaging materials. Combining various natural polysaccharide polymers, we discuss the application of chitosan cellulose in meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, and fishery products. Meanwhile, we explore their antibacterial and antioxidant behaviors during their use as food packaging materials. This provides a reference for effectively improving the performance of modified chitosan and cellulose food packaging materials in the future. Based on the above explanation, we analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of modified chitosan and cellulose and looked forward to the future development trends of chitosan and cellulose blend films in food preservation. Chitosan-cellulose blends not only have important prospects in food packaging and preservation applications, but can also be combined with intelligent manufacturing to enhance their food preservation performance. The aim of this review is to provide valuable references for basic research on the antimicrobial properties of these composites and their practical application in smart food packaging.

Conventionally, waste shells from aquaculture are dumped as a low‐value byproduct, which deteriorates ecosystems and threatens public health. Therefore, the reuse of waste shells is a pivotal issue. Calcination (≥700°C) can thermally convert calcium carbonate (CaCO3; the main component in waste shells) into active calcium oxide (CaO). This calcined shell powder has adsorption properties, antimicrobial properties, and biocompatibility, which can be used as a functional biofiller in food packaging. Calcined shell powder is also ecofriendly and nontoxic at the concentrations required for food processing and packaging, and has been approved as a food additive in Japan. Thus, this review comprehensively discusses the calcination process, compositions, adsorption and antimicrobial properties (and the underlying mechanisms), and applications of calcined shell powder in food processing and packaging.Practical applicationsThe active ingredient of calcined shell powder is active calcium oxide (CaO), which has functional abilities such as adsorption and antimicrobial properties, and is also ecofriendly and nontoxic to humans at the concentrations required for food processing and packaging. Its application as functional filler for food preservation and packaging films, the benefits, and the related mechanisms behind was the finding of this study.

Food toxins can be of natural origin, chemicals, or inadvertent additives that get incorporated during food packaging and processing. When food is contaminated with bacteria or viruses, or other contaminants, serious foodborne diseases arise, causing severe health issues. To overcome these issues, proper food processing and packaging needs to be addressed to protect humans and animals from foodborne diseases. There are many smart food packaging materials that have evolved recently. Researchers enabled the use of nanomaterials in food packaging and have improved the efficacy of food packaging. In this mini-review, the objectives are to summarize the different types of food contaminants, conventional food packaging materials, and recent developments in nanotechnology-based food packaging materials.

Background: Food and drug packaging materials are an integral part of our everyday life. Noxious elements can inadvertently be included in packaging materials in various stages of their production. Adulterants, adhesives, colorants and heavy metal interference are the common sources of contamination in food packaging materials. Heavy metal toxicity has far-reaching ill effects on living organisms. The present study aimed at qualitatively and quantitatively analysing heavy metal contamination of various materials that are used for food and drug packaging in India. Methods: The qualitative detection was done by rapid assay and heavy metals were quantified with the help of inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). A total of 13 types of food and drug packaging materials were procured from local market and analysed for four heavy metals viz. arsenic (As), vanadium (V), mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd). The concentration of each heavy metal in the samples was compared with permitted values published by the European Council. Results: Of the 13 samples, heavy metals were qualitatively detected in 10 samples. ICP­-OES values for quantitative estimation showed presence of heavy metal above permissible range in 10 of the studied samples for vanadium, all samples for arsenic, two samples for mercury and one sample for cadmium. Arsenic was found to be the commonest heavy metal contaminant, present in 13 samples above permissible limit. Conclusions: The significantly higher concentration of heavy metal poses a potential health risk to the consumer and affects the quality of the food.

A new type of active packaging is the combination of food-packaging materials with antimicrobial substances to control microbial surface contamination of foods. For both migrating and non-migrating antimicrobial materials, intensive contact between the food product and packaging material is required and therefore potential food applications include especially vacuum or skin-packaged products, e.g. vacuum-packaged meat, fish, poultry or cheese. Several antimicrobial compounds have been combined with different types of carriers (plastic and rubber articles, paper-based materials, textile fibrils and food-packaging materials). Until now, however, few antimicrobial concepts have found applications as a food-packaging material. Antimicrobial packaging materials cannot legally be used in the EU at the moment. The potential use would require amendments of several different legal texts involving areas such as food additives, food packaging, hygiene, etc. The main objective of this paper is to provide a state of the art about the different types of antimicrobial concepts, their experimental development and commercialization, and to present a case study summarizing the results of investigations on the feasibility of a low-density polyethylene (LDPE)-film containing triclosan to inhibit microbial growth on food surfaces and consequently prolong shelf-life or improve microbial food safety. In contrast with the strong antimicrobial effect in in-vitro simulated vacuumpackaged conditions against the psychrotrophic food pathogen L. monocytogenes, the 1000mg kg -1 containing triclosan film did not effectively reduce spoilage bacteria and growth of L. monocytogenes on re frigerated vacuum-packaged chicken breasts stored at 7 ° C.

Degradable chitosan-based bioplastic packaging: Design, preparation and applications

For a sustainable future, the search for biodegradable materials to replace conventional petroleum‐based polymers for food packaging has received much attention because of the need to reduce plastic pollution in the environment. Biopolymers are generally biodegradable, renewable, nontoxic, and easily available in nature and can be effective potential alternatives to synthetic plastics. However, the inherent limitations of biopolymers in terms of poor mechanical and barrier properties, as well as inadequate thermal stability, have hindered their widespread adoption in the food packaging industry. With the advent of nanoscience, new avenues for innovation in novel food packaging materials with enhanced functional attributes have been realized. Upon dispersion in a biopolymer matrix, inorganic or organic nanofillers, which possess certain physical and chemical properties at the nanoscale, make these composites useful as packaging materials; tailored mechanical, barrier, thermal, and optical properties have been reported to meet specific requirements for food preservation and packaging. This review discusses the effects of the reinforcement of different types of nanofillers on the mechanical, barrier, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of biopolymeric matrices used for food packaging applications. The importance of standardized regulations for the safe use of nanomaterials in food packaging has also been discussed in detail.

Plastics in Food Packaging

Food safety risk during the pandemic

This study analyzes food packaging innovations that promote circularity and contribute to reducing food loss and waste across the production chain. A systematic review was conducted using StArt software to identify and organize relevant scientific publications. Based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 26 articles were selected and analyzed across four categories established in this study: types of packaging innovation, definitions of circular and/or sustainable packaging, examples of innovative and sustainable packaging, and the relationship between innovative food packaging, the Circular Economy (CE), and efforts to reduce food loss and waste (FLW). The publications reviewed date from 2015 onward and consist primarily of literature reviews and experimental studies. A higher concentration of studies was observed in developed countries, particularly in Europe. The results highlight sustainable food packaging alternatives, classified as active, intelligent, and compostable packaging, as innovative solutions to replace conventional plastic packaging. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that the use of sustainable and environmentally friendly materials in food packaging contributes to reducing FLW while advancing the principles of a CE. Finally, the review identifies the need for future research to further explore sustainable packaging in the context of FLW reduction, with a particular focus on practical applications of CE principles. The integration of Circular Economy principles with strategies to reduce Food Loss and Waste is essential for the development of innovative food packaging. Active, intelligent, and compostable packaging are identified as key types of packaging innovation. The study defines and provides examples of circular and sustainable packaging.