Consumer and Manufacturing Driven Alternative Packaging Solutions from Agrifood Waste Streams
We aim to design innovation led packaging for red meat, fish & poultry made from material derived from agrifood waste. The issue of waste plastic in the food industry has led to strong consumer demand for producers & retailers to remove single use & reduce hard-to-dispose plastic.
Suitable materials for meat, fish & poultry have constraints such as the need for an oxygen barrier & stability at higher temperatures, so wide-scale use of alternatives has so far been low. To counteract this, we will focus on consumer & packaging industry acceptance; ease & efficiency of production; effective function; and effective disposal based on consumer education without contaminating the waste stream. Using full circularity, we will divert non-edible food waste into new value chains in the packaging industry. We will assess the sustainability of the new material using lifecycle analysis & aim to achieve a net-net result for producers & the environment, reducing COâ‚‚ and water use.
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Master in Food Systems
