Food Drink Ireland (FDI), the Ibec group that represents the Irish food and drink industries, has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting circular economy in packaging during an event on the future of plastic packaging, held on 21 November.
The director of prepared consumer foods at FDI, Linda Stuart-Trainor, stated, “FDI members have a strong focus on sustainable sourcing, resource efficiency, and sustainable consumption.
“Packaging is an important pillar within this approach and includes measures such as efficient use of natural resources, reduced packaging weight, refills, less packaging, awareness and education programmes on packaging use, recycling and research and development.”
Presently, around 82% of plastic packaging in Ireland is collected for recycling.
Support From Companies
According to Stuart-Trainor, funding from food and drinks companies has been instrumental in helping Repak – Ireland’s waste packaging collection and recycling scheme – to achieve its goals.
“Before industry began funding Repak, more than 90% of all packaging went to landfill. Now less than 10% goes to landfill. Providing segregated recycling bins in public would reduce on-the-go littering while increasing recycling rates,” she added.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) was also present at the event. The group highlighted important safety concerns related to packaging materials along with regulations that producers must adhere to.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
