In order to reduce non-recyclable waste, France intends to fully implement the ban on plastic packaging for some fresh products, such as apples and potatoes, which is further warming the Finnish trade sector.
Ilkka Nieminen, The director of the Finnish Grocery Trade Association (PTY), an industry lobby group, is among the skeptics. Nieminen said the total ban implemented by France runs counter to the EU’s goal of reducing food waste and would like companies to present their own plans to reduce plastic waste.
"We should not focus solely on plastic in that product group and ignore food waste," The PTY director said and added that fruits and vegetables make up a significant portion of the food that ends up in landfills.
Switch to a lesser running disposable one
Supermarkets have already taken steps to reduce plastic packaging. Many grocery stores in Finland already sell some fruits and vegetables in bulk, looking for more environmentally friendly solutions for products that cannot be made without them.
According to the K-Group, the packaging reforms made last year helped to avoid the use of plastic in 14 million plastic bags.
"Our goal is for our packaging to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025," a Finnish supermarket giant told Yle by e-mail.
Plastic affects the shelf life of fresh food
S Group Responsibility and Compliance Manager Anni Loukaskorpi agrees with Nieminen that banning all plastic packaging would have major negative effects on food waste.
Packaging often accounts for less than five percent of the product’s environmental impact, Loukaskorpi said, adding that e.g. "plastic packaging for cucumbers is quite thin and light, but they can still significantly improve the shelf life of the product."
The EU wants to reduce plastic pollution
Program Manager, Ministry of the Environment, Merja Saarnilehto, says that similar packaging bans in France are aimed at reducing the use of disposable plastics in general, given the EU ‘s efforts to combat non – recyclable waste.
At the same time, Saarnilehto says that there must be more environmentally friendly packaging solutions "do not cause major harm to food preservation," However, the program manager claims that a large proportion of fruit sold in areas such as Central Europe arrives pre-packaged.
"I believe that, especially in the case of fruit and vegetables, pre-packaging is often not necessary for preservation," he said.
Implementation EU Disposable Plastics Directive It is still in progress in Finland. The government is due to make a proposal to implement the directive by the end of the year. Saarnilehto says the options are rigid legislation or more flexible regulations for operators in each sector.
Source: The Nordic Page