Plastics help to protect food

The barrier properties of plastics ensure that food keeps its natural taste while protecting it from external contamination. Plastics packaging protects and preserves perishable food for longer. It helps reducing both food waste and the use of preservatives.

Moreover, the material’s unparalleled versatility is demonstrated in a multitude of applications such as packaging films for fresh meats, bottles for beverages, edible oils and sauces, fruit yoghurt cups or margarine tubs.

While over 50% of all European goods are packaged in plastics, these plastics account only for 17% of all packaging weight. Furthermore, this weight has been reduced by 28% over the past 10 years.

Nowadays people want packaging with clear identification and labelling which is easy to open and use. Plastics packaging evolves to provide exactly that. In the near future, for instance, it will integrate printable RFID (radio-frequency identification) chips based on conductive polymers, providing precious information on the quality and status of products.