The best thing would be for packaging to simply disappear. You wouldn't have to dispose of them, and they wouldn't show up in landfills either. It sounds like science fiction, but it already exists - thanks to innovative packaging that you can eat. In the following text, we'll show you how they work and what's packed in them.

What is edible packaging?

There are numerous different packaging variants that are edible. As a representative, we will go into more detail about one method and then show you other examples.

Generally speaking, while this packaging is edible, you obviously don't have to eat it. "Edible" in this context should also be understood as: "The material can easily be degraded by nature itself."

One example is the substance "pullulan," which can be used to wrap food. Pullulan consists only of sugar molecules and therefore tastes very sweet. This substance wraps itself in fine threads around a food item - perhaps an apple - and thus keeps it fresh. Some tests conducted by a team of researchers in the USA have already shown promising results:

• The material can be easily washed off food. In three days, the earth has naturally degraded it.

• Compared to unpackaged fruit, pullulan protects much better: an avocado packaged with it had only about half the mold spots compared to the unpackaged fruit.

• The substance is cheap: sugar is not expensive and can therefore be understood as a serious alternative to plastic & Co.

These are advantages that cannot be denied - but there are still some construction sites.

The limits of current technology

A complex apparatus is required to wrap a fruit in this fabric. Two to four minutes pass before an orange, for example, is wrapped. To wrap masses of fruit in Pullulan, this is perhaps still too slow. In addition, the machines are not yet ready for mass production, so production has yet to start. So while the benefits of the technology are obvious, it will be some time before it is ready for the market.

More alternatives

Edible packaging comes in numerous varieties. While pullulan is still in the feasibility study stage, other packaging has already arrived in practical use. Some examples turn out as follows:

• Certain bowls are designed for food. They are made of products like wheat bran, then baked and used to serve soups, for example. When you're done, you can eat the bowl right after as a dessert.

• Various cups and mugs can also be eaten - for example, an espresso cup made of baked dough.

Often products of this type consist of materials such as flour, grain or legumes. The focus is not always on edibility, but very much on compostability. For example, a tasteless cup made from flour is unlikely to taste good - but it can be disposed of without any problems.

Even environmental sins, such as going out of the window on the highway

thrown coffee cup, would then only be half as bad: In a few days, the cup would simply rot.

Applications for edible packaging

Most packaging of this type is currently used in the food industry. This makes sense: if you are eating or drinking something anyway, you can eat the packaging at the same time.

This may sound unusual at first. At the same time, however, you are guaranteed to already know one edible package and have even eaten it many times: the ice cream cone.

It serves as packaging for ice cream scoops and is then eaten. Nothing is left of the actual product and you don't have to throw anything away. This would also be a conceivable solution for the future for other to-go products that we buy on the go.

With the appropriate technologies and food, we could also go to fast-food restaurants in the future, order something there and leave a clean table at the end with at most a few glasses left on it. We simply ate the rest.

Edible packaging away from the food industry

As a packaging material, too, the edible packaging bandwagon is slowly getting rolling. For example, Evoware from Indonesia produced packaging from seaweed. You could use these as fertilizer - or as a seasoning for fish and similar dishes. If you don't have a specific use for them, you simply hold them under hot water. They will dissolve in a few seconds.

Tipa's plastic bags take a similar tack. The company produces compostable bags made of bio-plastic that simply dissolve after about three months. They can be used for a variety of purposes. In theory, anything that can also be packaged in normal plastic bags can be packaged in these bags.

Some problems still exist: Compared to "real" plastic, the two solutions presented are less durable. So if storage is required for years, these methods are not yet an alternative to full plastic. However, if it is foreseeable that a short storage is sufficient - for example for a transport from the online store to the buyer - these biological alternatives are completely sufficient.

Consumers and businesses: Why do we need edible packaging?

Both companies and consumers benefit from some of the advantages that edible packaging can bring. All of the benefits come under the great mantle of sustainability, which we are still a long way from industry-wide. However, both groups have a vested interest in slowly moving our economy in that direction.

Edible packaging for business

Depending on the country, companies are now sometimes subject to strict Environmental Social Governance (ESG) requirements or have voluntarily committed to comply with them. This means that they must find ways to reduce their biological footprint and curb CO2 emissions, for example.

Conventional plastic packaging is made from plastic and thus petroleum. If companies switch to compostable packaging, this could have a positive impact on their environmental footprint. Ambitious goals such as "CO2-neutral by 2025" would then be easier to achieve.

In addition, advantages beckon from an image perspective. Younger people in particular rate companies that are committed to sustainability much more positively than conventional industries. Their own brands are thus strengthened, and the company's image improves.

ESG means "Environmental Social Governance. These guidelines mean that companies are concerned about their social and environmental responsibility.

 

Edible packaging from the consumer's point of view

For private individuals, there is always the advantage that they usually have an interest in a planet that is free of garbage. Besides, everyone knows the dilemma at home: after a generous week's shopping, half a yellow bag is already filled with new trash. This is recycled - but of course it would be better not to create this waste in the first place.

In addition, many people today also make their purchasing decisions from a sustainability perspective. If the decision is between a sustainable and a non-sustainable product, consumers often enough opt for the former.

Edible packaging, with its excellent sustainability record , fits in very well there.

Sustainability: How good is edible packaging really?

Just how much waste we really produce becomes clear when we take a look at the popular coffee. Every hour(!), Germans treat themselves to a total of around 320,000 cups of coffee. These are disposable cups that are thrown away. That's 2.8 billion cups of coffee per year. On top of that, there are another 1.3 billion lids - made of plastic.

After all: These data from last year can now no longer be maintained. Since July 2021, cups like these must be made from materials other than single-use plastic. However, the dimensions illustrate the problem, because there are of course many other types of packaging than coffee cups.

In 2019, we produced about 6.3 million tons of plastic waste in Germany alone. If you imagine that we replace the majority with compostable packaging and thus save millions of tons of waste, it becomes clear that this could do a tremendous service to sustainability.

The Road to Zero Waste

Edible packaging is likely to be an important step in the direction of

of the zero-waste future: A society that produces no waste or that puts its waste to good use. Pure plastic has virtually no useful purpose and cannot be recycled.

So by switching to packaging that "disappears" without residue because it is eaten or composted, the dream of this future society could come much closer.

Do edible packaging have a future?

Yes, as soon as some problems are solved. In the food sector in particular, edible packaging is already proving to be quite robust. However, some processes are still too complex for widespread use - such as the pullulan mentioned at the beginning.

We would therefore say that this packaging not only has a future, but that it has even just begun. We wouldn't be surprised if in 20 years' time virtually all packaging is edible or compostable. But until then, we need a lot more research and experience.

Conclusion: The packaging of tomorrow

Edible packaging has already arrived in the food industry. It will be some time before every new smartphone arrives in packaging made of algae plastic. For reasons of sustainability, however, we would be surprised if most packaging is not compostable in the future.

FAQ

1. Is edible packaging really suitable for consumption?
   Yes - but whether it is edible is another question. Algae packaging made from organic plastic probably won't taste very good. So you should rather think of these packagings as compostable.

2. How can I recognize edible packaging?
   Companies usually print this benefit prominently on their packaging. Printed notices such as "I disintegrate into dust after a few months" are not uncommon. If in doubt, simply ask the seller or manufacturer.

 

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