Sarah Greenwood

Reducing single-use plastic packaging is an environmental priority and reusable packaging is often promoted as a sustainable solution, yet little is known about the feasibility of reusable packaging systems for meat delivered to food service venues. This study explored stakeholder perspectives prior to planned implementation of a reuse scheme through semi-structured interviews with food service operators and supply chain stakeholders (n = 23). The qualitative data were analysed using framework analysis informed by the COM-B model. Four key themes were identified: (1) Operational readiness in kitchens, reflecting limited understanding of reuse and resource constraints; (2) Appropriate design of reusable packaging for effective practice, relating to compatibility with workflows and food safety, (3) Power dynamics and fragmentation across the supply chain, highlighting coordination challenges and unclear responsibilities, and (4) Making a business case for reuse, with cost neutrality as a minimum condition. Overall, barriers were primarily operational and systemic rather than technical. Findings highlight the need for coordinated infrastructure, regulatory clarity and financially viable reuse models.

This paper aims to show how environmental policy can change the direction of eco-innovation in an industrial sector. It uses the example of the planned reforms to the UK Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system, and the UK food packaging sector, drawing on a small number of semistructured remote interviews with experts from this sector. Concepts from the Multi-level Perspective (MLP) such as "niche-innovation trajectory" are used to engage with the idea of innovation direction, and this approach is also used to explore how this idea of direction relates to broader socio-technical transitions and transitions at a sectoral level. This paper also presents more specific findings relating to the changing dynamics within the food packaging industry and contributes new insight into how social, contextual issues affect the implementation of process innovation.

The UK fresh produce sector (fruit and vegetables) uses 38 kt of plastic consumer packaging per year and is the fifth largest product category for the creation of plastic waste in the UK. One way of addressing this is to sell fresh produce loose, without packaging. This study takes a mixed methods approach of a literature search of historical loose produce trials and a policy coherence analysis of plastic packaging and food waste policy, addressing the research gaps in those areas. The results are used to check progress against UK Plastics Pact (UKPP) targets and alignment with Courtauld 2030 (C2030) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 on food waste. Both methods highlight a tension between food waste and plastics reduction policies at all levels and the literature survey shows there is now a will amongst retailers to overcome this. This incoherence is mitigated using caveats in the plastics policies, such as ‘where shelf-life is unaffected’. There is additional scope to harmonise further by addressing compostables and reduction targets. Supermarkets’ plastics policies are shown to be generally coherent with each other and the pact, but implementation of individual policies between retailers varies considerably. For the removal of consumer packaging from fresh produce to continue, food waste in the supply chain, the amount of transit packaging used, and wider social engagement on packaging and food waste must be considered. The need for better data on packaging usage is highlighted.