Food waste is everywhere. From the milk poured down the drain, to the unsold groceries discarded by supermarkets and the produce that never leaves the farm—waste touches every part of the food system. In the European Union, around 58 million metric tons of food is wasted every year, and globally, around a third of all food produced goes to waste [1].
Polyolefin flexible and rigid packaging solutions protect and prolong the life of food.
© Borealis
In a world where millions go hungry, waste on this scale cannot be ignored. Beyond the food itself, these figures represent a massive loss of energy, water, and other resources used to produce and transport it.
Today, on the UN International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction, we are reminded of the urgent need for solutions that reduce food waste while also protecting our resources.
At Borealis, we’re committed to working with our partners across the food and packaging industries to address this challenge. Our polyolefin materials for flexible and rigid food packaging not only protect food during transport and storage but also keep products fresher for longer, reducing the amount of waste.
Reducing food waste is vital, but it's equally important that the packaging designed to prevent it is as sustainable as possible. Our goal is to develop materials that minimize environmental impact while continuing to deliver the high performance needed to protect and prolong the life of food.
In the spirit of Everminds, our platform dedicated to accelerating the transition to a circular economy for plastics, we’ve collaborated with our value chain partners to successfully integrate circular polyolefins based on renewable and chemically recycled feedstocks into a wide range of food packaging applications.
In addition, we offer materials that enable downgauging, helping our customers use less material without compromising on quality or performance, support reuse, and promote design for recycling, for example through enabling monomaterial structures.
One of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets is to halve global food waste by 2030 [2]. No single organization, industry, or country can achieve this alone. That’s why we’ll continue to work closely with our partners in the food and packaging sectors to develop solutions that contribute to this global effort—helping to conserve valuable resources and make everyday life easier, for everyone.
Our polyolefin packaging solutions are making everyday life easier.
© Borealis
We’re proud to play a role in reducing food waste through our rigid packaging solutions. By helping to keep products fresh for longer and improving the sustainability of our materials, we’re contributing to efforts to minimize waste and conserve our planet’s valuable resources.
Florin Sabau, Global Commercial Director Consumer Products Rigid
Flexible packaging is essential for keeping food fresh and minimizing waste, but it must also meet the demands of sustainability. At Borealis, we’re committed to working with our partners across the value chain to create innovative packaging solutions that deliver both—effective protection for food and reduced environmental impact through circular materials and design.
Peter Voortmans, Global Commercial Director Consumer Products Flexible
[1] Source: Food Waste Index Report 2024 (UNEP). Accessed 11 September 2024.
[2] SDG 12.3