Food companies’ problems in the transition to recyclable plastic use

This study aims to identify problems that food companies may encounter during the transition from un-recyclable plastic packaging, to recyclable plastic packaging. The study is based on a survey and a case study. The survey was answered by 16 food companies who, with their signature of the Plastinitiativet 2022, have taken responsibility for increasing the recyclability of their plastic packaging. The case study focuses on a food company that may want to sign Plastinitiativet 2022, but first need to know more about their current plastic usage and what possibilities they have to increase the recyclability of their plastic package. Both studies show that food companies may experience some problems in the transition to a more recyclable plastic usage. A change in the plastics material and color may result in unexpected problems. Multilaminates and barrier materials have special functions but lower the recyclability. Laser marking and/or minimal printing, labels, shrink labels and adhesives on the packaging do not appear to be problematic for most of the companies. Signing Plastinitiativet 2022 seems to motivate the food companies to take measures, to increase the recyclability of their plastic packaging. All food companies will probably encounter problems of varying severity. The severity varies depending on the type of plastic used at present and the type of food that is packaged. The transition is also likely to contribute to higher materials- and staff costs for food companies