Green packaging still facing barriers to growth, report

The study, published by UK-based market analysts AMI (Applied Market Information), was timed to coincide with the Interpack trade fair later this month.

Food processors are keen to show that they are responding to consumer demand for products and packaging that are more environmentally friendly, and many have come up with 'greener' alternatives to traditional plastics.

But Chris Noble, an analyst at AMI, said that the market for bioplastics remained small, not least because of a lack of facilities to ensure that the packaging can be recycled or composted properly.

"Less than one per cent of global polymers are currently classified as compostable bioplastics according to the European EN 13432 standard," he told FoodProductionDaily.com.

"This means that plastics have to completely biodegrade into harmless microscopic fragments within 90 days.

However, the standard allows for this to take place within ideal composting conditions, such as industrial composting facilities where the materials are heated to high temperatures in order to accelerate the composting process."

"Obviously, these materials will take much longer to compost in a home composting environment, and critics argue there isn't a sufficiently well developed network of industrial composting facilities in, for example, the UK to justify investment in these materials," he added.

But some bioplastics have proven to be more successful with the general public, Noble said.

"PLA is the best established polymer and is made by Natureworks in the United States.

The leading European manufacturer is Novamont, whose CEO Dr Catia Bestoli was awarded the title of European inventor of the year in 2007, and its innovative Mater-Bi polymer will home-compost," according to Noble, giving it a far better chance of a wide take-up.

"Novamont has entered a joint venture with 600 sunflower growers in the Terni district of Italy and is a company to watch out for," he said.

But composting limitations are not the whole story: another major issue that could potentially slow the expansion of food-based plastics is the current debate over food prices.

"The wider political issues are complex," said Noble.

"Should arable land be used to grow crops for plastic, or should we concentrate on feeding the world?"

"Food prices are rising dramatically as investors see them as a safe bet in an unstable financial market.

Oil prices are rising too, however, and while bioplastics are currently up to three times more expensive to manufacture, this is still young technology and will become increasingly competitive."

And he added that the waters had been further muddied by the increasing vilification of another 'green' alternative to petroleum-based products - biofuels.

"The anti-biofuel and biopolymer lobby is vocal and influential," he said, noting that EU biofuel targets had recently been reduced under pressure from critics arguing that the science was not yet available to prove their effectiveness.

As a result, the future of the biopolymer packaging market hangs in the balance, according to Noble.

"In terms of growth, it's very difficult to predict.

It's currently a niche area, and critics argue that the supermarket chains are simply exploiting the guilty environmental consciences of the middle class."

"However, these consumers are extremely powerful and growth could explode.

The bottom line is it's all about oil and food."