Challenges for circular food packaging: Circular resources utilization

Abstract

Packaging is considered as one of the most important activities of the food supply chain. Even though it serves a vital role in both the supply chain management and manufacturing industry; knowledge base for the implementation of extended producer's responsibility for packaging is significantly ignored and inadequate. Thus, aim of this article is to identify and analyse the challenges to circular food packaging in the literature for reduced food waste and sustainable food supply chain. To reach this aforementioned aim, as an initial step, systematic literature review is conducted with 189 articles. Articles were gathered from databases including Web of Science (WoS), MDPI and Scopus. In total of 26 challenges are selected and classified under 7 categories. Moreover, findings provide a further analysis with multi-dimensional perspective to the circular food packaging including CE principles (9Rs), packaging materials and sub-sectors in food industry. The study ended with the interpretation of results and implications which will guide practitioners and policy makers.

Keywords

• Circular economy
• Sustainable packaging
• Sustainable food supply chain
• Food waste
• Food packaging