Open AccessChallenges and possible solutions to mitigate the problems of single-use plastics used for packaging food items: a review
Author(s) -
Ayan Dey,
Chanda Vilas Dhumal,
Priyanka Sengupta,
Arushi Kumar,
Nilay Pramanik,
Tanweer Alam
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of food science and technology/journal of food science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.656
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 0975-8402
pISSN - 0022-1155
DOI - 10.1007/s13197-020-04885-6
Subject(s) - plastic pollution , single use , garbage , plastic packaging , waste management , environmental science , food packaging , milestone , business , plastic waste , forensic engineering , risk analysis (engineering) , engineering , pollution , process engineering , geography , ecology , mechanical engineering , archaeology , biology
Single-use plastic (SUP) being a versatile material, is adopted as an alternate to traditional materials specifically for the use in food packaging due to its inherent characteristics like high durability, inertness, and protecting ability but has become a curse for living being today due to its random usage and unplanned rejection to nature. Mostly plastics used in packaging of beverages, fresh meats, fruits and vegetables are under concern today. Single-use packages result in generation of several billion tons of garbage till date, which pollutes the environment. At the immediate past, it has come to light that micro plastics obtained due to slow degradation of SUP present in oceans, are also being consumed by marine organisms such as fishes and shellfish species which disturbs the marine life extensively. Hence, finding right strategy to mitigate the plastic waste related issues has becoming inevitable today. This review paper briefs various strategies undertaken worldwide to mitigate the pollution due to generation of plastic waste. Various notable impact of adopted strategies and recent innovations to replace the SUP products are also discussed and in view of this a roadmap is also suggested which can be used to achieve the milestone of Zero Plastic Waste.