Reusable Plastic Products in the Food Processing Industry
Reusable plastic products are all the rage in various industries across the world. Consumers are also starting to interact with their purchases more in a bid to live more sustainably for the longer term benefit of the planet. While “going green” was initially a marketing fad, these days it is taken more seriously and when it comes to reusable products, plastic is at the forefront of big innovations. The food processing industry traditionally uses a lot of plastic products in their packaging, and today we’ll explore this a little more, touching on the types of products integrating reusable plastic, and what you can do if you’re keen to incorporate reusable plastic into your daily life or work operations.
The Food Processing Industry & Plastic
In the production of food products, typically the most important aspect is the safety of the finished product. This includes thinking about the way it is packaged and how this packaging will interact with the environment during all modes of transport in the time between it leaving the warehouse all the way until it gets put into the fridge at home for a consumer that has bought it. A lot of times, this packaging includes plastic, ranging from small caps on milk bottles, the physical bottles that house juices and other liquids, or even just in the cling wrap used for meat and other animal products. The food processing industry has a long relationship with plastic, and a difficult one at that. In recent years, sustainable packaging and reusable plastics have begun to be prioritised, but there is a fair way to go for it to be universally used.
What Are Reusable Plastic Products?
Reusable plastic products come in a range of different types, and in many industries it is relatively new in the way it is used. Thinking a bit more broadly than just the food processing industry and the smaller packaging requirements to complete a product, plastics are often overlooked at other parts of the supply chain. Reusable plastics are used in agricultural harvesting containers, for instance. It can be found in plastic bakery trays that are part of the production process. Reusable plastic pallets are becoming more common for industrial use in South Africa, and while it is still fairly common for companies to depend on wooden pallets, these are not as dependable as their plastic counterpart. Reusable plastic affects safety, profitability and in some ways even consumer confidence. The key is to explore all phases of the production process to see where it may be possible to substitute an “old favourite” for a reusable alternative.
