OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING FOR THE AUSTRALIAN FOOD INDUSTRY

For more than three decades packaging has been considered as principal user of material resources, as well as a waste generator. The Australian packaging industry is particularly concerned about how to address these environmental issues. This paper presents a study consisting of a series of interviews with people involved in the packaging development process of some leading food and beverage packaging companies. The study comprises an assessment of the development processes currently undertaken by companies, as well as the ways in which they incorporate sustainability into it. We include a description of the different roles in this process, as well as recommendations for good practices to consider sustainability in a more efficient way.