Understanding consumer disposal behaviour with food to go packaging in a move to circular, zero waste packaging solutions

It is clear that a shift from the current make-use-dispose mentality of product consumption is required to move to the ideal of a Circular Economy (CE), where the world’s resources are kept in use for as long as possible and their value retained. The idea of waste as a resource within a CE is not new, but the pressure to apply it to the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) packaging industry has been growing in momentum since 2016. Many research studies have focussed on recycling behaviours in the home, but few have looked at consumers behaviour with food to go (FTG) packaging disposed out of the home. This research set out to assess the habit strengths of millennial consumers disposing of FTG packaging out of the home within the UK. The outcome of this research showed that millennial consumers have strong habits (upper quartile) in relation to their FTG packaging disposal routine. However, a significant percentage of participants were placing FTG packaging into incorrect recycling bins, showing there is still confusion amongst consumers about how to dispose of waste out of the home. Understanding of habit strengths at the packaging disposal stage could be one element to help in the design of interventions within packaging or waste system design, developing the responsible consumer behaviours required for a circular, zero waste society to exist

Consumer disposal habits [Poster]

The UK food packaging industry is currently facing sustainability challenges on a macro-economic level. A Literature Review and Scoping Study have already shown there to exist a wide spectrum of technical solutions which the industry could leverage towards a move from a Linear to a Circular Economy, but a lack of knowledge concerning how consumers actually interact with packaging exists

Incorporating consumer insights into the UK food packaging supply chain in the transition to a circular economy

The growth of eating lunch purchased out of the home has led to an increased need for pre-packaged food-to-go products. Single-use plastic packaging is frequently chosen for its food safety and convenience attributes; however, the material format is under scrutiny due to concerns over economic waste and environmental impact. A circular economy could transform linear make-use-dispose supply chains into circular systems, ensuring the cycling of valuable plastic resources. However, there has been limited research into how consumers will behave within circular economic systems. Understanding consumer behaviour with packaging disposed out of the home could aid designers in developing solutions society will adopt in the transition to a circular economy. This study evaluates the application of behaviour research methods, and the behavioural insight outputs, with stakeholders from the UK food-to-go packaging supply chain. A novel co-design workshop and business origami technique allowed multiple stakeholder groups to collaboratively discuss, evaluate, and plan how consumer behaviour techniques could be used within their supply chain packaging development process. Although all stakeholders identified strengths in incorporating behaviour studies into the development process, providing essential knowledge feedback loops, barriers to their application include the cost and time to implement, plus the existing inconsistent UK waste infrastructure