Strategic Policies to Reduce Plastic Waste
03.02.2022
Many people would like to reduce their consumption of plastic packaging, but face barriers such as the limited availability of unpackaged goods and scarcity of zero-waste stores. An IASS Policy Brief presents three strategic policy recommendations that could help reduce the consumption of packaging in everyday life.
As part of the ENSURE research consortium, environmental psychologists at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam have studied how policy could help people reduce their consumption of plastic packaging for food. According to a representative survey of the German public carried out by the IASS scientists, consumers are keen to reduce their plastic footprints. 92 percent of consumers view plastic waste as a threat to the preservation of the natural environment and the foundations of life. 86 percent of the interviewed consumers criticize that many foods and beverages are only offered in plastic packaging. 83 percent would welcome more regional fruits and vegetables, 76 percent would welcome them unpackaged, and 63 percent would be willing to often or always use own containers for fresh foods. Despite this, consumers face a variety of barriers in their attempts to reduce their consumption of plastic packaging and the amount of plastic waste continues to grow.
Political action is needed to support people in their efforts to reduce plastic consumption. The researchers make three recommendations in their policy brief:
- Message 1: Improve the availability of unpackaged groceries
A nationwide network of easily accessible zero-packaging stores is needed to encourage consumers to adopt the unpackaged concept in daily life. We recommend the introduction of a uniform binding standard for unpackaged goods and their trade to support the implementation of this concept by retailers.
- Message 2: Create standardized and sustainable reusable food packaging systems
Policy should seek to promote reusable packaging systems utilizing standardized containers, short transport routes, cross-company cleaning systems and optimized reverse logistics to ensure greater resource efficiency.
- Message 3: Expand regional supply systems for seasonal and organic foods
A systemic approach should be taken to strengthen and expand socio-ecological food value chains at the regional level, with a focus on providing access to a regional and seasonal range of foods with a minimal plastic footprint.
Wiefek, J., Michels-Ehrentraut, R., Stolberg, A., & Beyerl, K. (2022). Strategies to Reduce Food Packaging. Reducing waste from single-use plastic packaging through unpackaged concepts, reusable packaging, and regional supply systems. IASS Policy Brief (February 2022), Potsdam. DOI: 10.48481/iass.2022.006
