TY - JOUR
T1 - Bioplastic packaging for fresh meat and fish
T2 - Current status and future direction on mitigating food and packaging waste
AU - Uysal-Unalan, Ilke
AU - Sogut, Ece
AU - Realini, Carolina E.
AU - Cakmak, Hulya
AU - Oz, Emel
AU - Espinosa, Eduardo
AU - Morcillo-Martín, Ramón
AU - Oz, Fatih
AU - Nurmi, Maristiina
AU - Cerqueira, Miguel A.
AU - Perera, Kalpani Y.
AU - Ayhan, Zehra
AU - Arserim-Ucar, Dilhun Keriman
AU - Kanakaki, Chrysoula
AU - Chrysochou, Polymeros
AU - Marcos, Begonya
AU - Corredig, Milena
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s)
PY - 2024/10
Y1 - 2024/10
N2 - Background: This work evaluates the preparedness of the packaging industry towards more circular, sustainable solutions for fresh meat and fish. The term bioplastic is ill-defined, creating confusion between all stakeholders in the value chain. The implementation of bioplastic as food contact material will only occur when there are demonstrated solutions that can equally or better protect fresh meat and fish from spoilage, compared to conventional plastic. Price, supply chain availability, machinability, and safety will also be key in the shift from fossil to bioplastic. Scope and approach: The application of bioplastic as food contact material for fresh meat and fish is at its infancy. In this work, a multidisciplinary approach was employed to highlight the need for a holistic eco-design that minimizes food and packaging waste, due to the high environmental footprint and value of fresh fish and meat. Key findings and conclusions: Although bioplastics are positively perceived by all end-users, including consumers, there is widespread confusion in their market implementation. Their sorting and end-of-life are major challenges. Their supply chains are underdeveloped, in terms of costs, scale-up, sorting, and recycling even for the most promising materials. Most bioplastics still do not meet the specified technological functionalities required to substitute their fossil-fuel counterparts. For appropriate eco-design, it is important to quantify the bioplastic solutions using life cycle assessment considering the material-food unit and most importantly, ensure their safety, by demonstrating the absence of migration of harmful substances from packaging, especially when derived from waste byproducts. The development of active and intelligent bioplastic solutions to increase the shelf life of fresh fish and meat products will also add significant value to the food-packaging unit.
AB - Background: This work evaluates the preparedness of the packaging industry towards more circular, sustainable solutions for fresh meat and fish. The term bioplastic is ill-defined, creating confusion between all stakeholders in the value chain. The implementation of bioplastic as food contact material will only occur when there are demonstrated solutions that can equally or better protect fresh meat and fish from spoilage, compared to conventional plastic. Price, supply chain availability, machinability, and safety will also be key in the shift from fossil to bioplastic. Scope and approach: The application of bioplastic as food contact material for fresh meat and fish is at its infancy. In this work, a multidisciplinary approach was employed to highlight the need for a holistic eco-design that minimizes food and packaging waste, due to the high environmental footprint and value of fresh fish and meat. Key findings and conclusions: Although bioplastics are positively perceived by all end-users, including consumers, there is widespread confusion in their market implementation. Their sorting and end-of-life are major challenges. Their supply chains are underdeveloped, in terms of costs, scale-up, sorting, and recycling even for the most promising materials. Most bioplastics still do not meet the specified technological functionalities required to substitute their fossil-fuel counterparts. For appropriate eco-design, it is important to quantify the bioplastic solutions using life cycle assessment considering the material-food unit and most importantly, ensure their safety, by demonstrating the absence of migration of harmful substances from packaging, especially when derived from waste byproducts. The development of active and intelligent bioplastic solutions to increase the shelf life of fresh fish and meat products will also add significant value to the food-packaging unit.
KW - Active packaging
KW - Bio-based food packaging
KW - Consumer perception
KW - Food safety
KW - Intelligent packaging
KW - Waste management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201694725&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.tifs.2024.104660
DO - 10.1016/j.tifs.2024.104660
M3 - Review Article or Literature Review
AN - SCOPUS:85201694725
SN - 0924-2244
VL - 152
JO - Trends in Food Science and Technology
JF - Trends in Food Science and Technology
M1 - 104660
ER -