Collaborative Success and a Wealth of Ideas
In May 2024, the city of Helsinki (Finland) played host to a pivotal event in the realm of sustainable food packaging: the Value4Pack interregional workshop. This dynamic gathering charted a course towards innovation and collaboration in the 4R goals—refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle – in food packaging. Originating from the European S3 Partnership Food Packaging, the Value4Pack project aims to bolster the capacity, competitiveness, and resilience of European food packaging stakeholders to address pressing societal, environmental, and economic challenges.
The workshop, with actors from 11 EU countries, created a rich environment for benchmarking and exchanging insights between less developed and more developed European regions. Through dynamic roundtable discussions and sharing sessions, over 50 innovative ideas emerged for interregional development. These ideas will shape the upcoming open call4projectideas, which opens on June 26, inviting stakeholders to turn these ideas into actionable business projects. Industry-driven value chain solutions for collaborative projects that address the challenges for sustainable food packaging will be the focus. From this pool, 30 top ideas will be selected for an online Pitching event.
The outcomes of the interregional workshop have been documented in a report. For those eager to delve deeper into Value4Pack’s interregional report on the food packaging value chain analysis, click here to claim your free copy.
4R Key Takeaways
Innovating to Refuse packaging without additional food loss and waste was recognized as essential. Promoting local food chains, adopting technologies like edible packaging or coatings, laser labeling or QR codes for product information, are promising strategies, making elimination of packaging a viable option for some food products.
Reducing food packaging – by minimizing packaging weight, simplifying layer compositions for better recyclability, and eliminating unnecessary components – is still emerging in some EU regions, while others have many innovations in this topic. Sharing best practices and benchmarks is crucial to foster these practices uniformly across all European regions, ensuring greater efficiency and sustainability in food packaging.
A rising star among the 4Rs, Reuse gained momentum in regions such as France, Belgium, Sweden, and Finland leading the charge. Although progress varies, the enthusiasm for exploring reuse solutions is strongly present. Establishing viable reuse systems demands, strategic approaches, new business models, cutting-edge technologies and infrastructure, among other efforts. Despite numerous challenges, the potential for economically viable reuse systems is promising, and research initiatives are key to ensure sustainability, food safety, and quality.
Recycling of (food) packaging has garnered the greatest attention and development among the 4Rs. The main challenge lies in producing high-quality recyclites that can be reintegrated into packaging applications. Developed regions with advanced waste management and EPR systems lead the way, but innovation and collaboration are needed to harmonize collection, sorting and recycling systems. Addressing challenges in plastic and paper recycling is essential for a unified, efficient approach.
JOIN IN FOR OPPORTUNITY TO PITCH YOUR ORGANIZATION’S IDEA
The workshop underscored a collective commitment to the 4R framework, showcasing a drive towards innovative solutions and best practices that promise a more sustainable future for packaging. As we move forward, the upcoming Call4ProjectIdeas will play a crucial role in transforming these ideas into concrete interregional business projects.
Register here or you can stay tuned for more details on the Call4ProjectIdeas via Value4Pack’s LinkedIn page.
Join us in redefining the future of food packaging—because sustainability begins with us.