Edible, Biodegradable Packaging for Foods

The world keeps on evolving with a number innovations been rolled out on a daily basis, one of such innovations are edible, biodegradable packaging for foods. The simple reality is that conventional food packaging has its own drawbacks as far as its effect on the environment is concerned. With these and other conditions in mind, it becomes rather imperative to note that viable alternative forms of packaging become more of a necessity than it is a luxury. One of the prominent alternative materials which have immense potentials as far as the future is concerned is those which are gotten food ingredients which are either not used or under-used. These items usually provide material for packaging which aside from being bio-degradable are also eatable which means that they present better opportunities for usage in the commercial sector in a manner that can be best described as sustainable. It, therefore, goes without saying that the benefits which these packaging materials possess over the normal forms of packaging which are currently been made use of by the food sector. The increase in eco-friendly packaging: The conventional means of packaging includes plastic laminates with constituents such as glass, plastics, and metals. It is however worthy of note that the aforementioned materials were created for the purpose of packing certain food materials. There is however a shift in the needs of consumers as far as food products are concerned and there is also an apparent rise in the level of awareness of the place of biodegradable packaging as far as the sale of food materials is concerned. There is an ever-increasing consciousness as regards the environment; quality of food, sustainability as well as the cost of products is concerned in the modern world. It is also worthy of note that these factors are all brought about by legislative regulations as far as food packaging is concerned. It should also be stated that majority of the packaging made use of is of a synthetic nature which has their origin from fossils, there is however rising concerns about the sustainability due to the drop in the volume of non-renewable sources for the making of plastics. There is heightened consciousness as to the increase in demand for fossils and the fall in the supplies. Why sustainability in food packaging is a must: It is projected that as we approach the year 2030, extraction of oil should have reached a crescendo and the use of fuel for transport purposes will have become a non-economic prospect. It is also noteworthy that the yearly consumption materials made of plastic have grown from five million tonnes to about 230 million between the 1950s till today. The plastic need in Europe was about 47.5 million tonnes back in the year 2005 and of this number, 17.6 million tonnes which represent about 37 percent found application in packaging materials. The fact that the plastic sector takes such a large chunk of the industry is one reason it is increasingly drawing attention from environmentalists as well as policymakers. It is therefore on these aforementioned points that developing the edible and  seems to be getting increased interest these days as a result of the possibility they have to lower or outrightly replace the non-degradable packaging.