According to an international consumer survey commissioned by global chemical company Kemira, more than half of the people expressed their willingness to pay more for renewable food packaging. The vast majority of respondents also expressed a desire to reduce the use of plastics in their lives. The international survey was conducted in April 2019 and the respondents were from Germany, the United States, China and Finland.
In the entire environmental footprint of food, food packaging is often overlooked, but it affects the shelf life of products and the recyclability of waste. We surveyed consumers' views on food packaging materials, food shopping and food waste. The survey was conducted by third-party research partner Taloustutkimus, and more than 4,000 respondents participated in the survey.
"As an important part of the fiber packaging solution value chain, Kemira has been actively paying attention to the development trend of food packaging. In order to reduce the amount of plastic waste in food packaging, we asked which of the market participants should bear When it comes to primary responsibility, the vast majority of respondents believe that food producers should bear primary responsibility. We know that food producers are actively working to solve them, but we are facing complex issues because food producers have global operations The laws and regulations of different countries are different. We hope to see that in the local legislation, various countries and regions can take into account these major global challenges, and hope that future supervision will have a certain degree of predictability. Sustainable and predictable Regenerated solutions require continuous and long-term efforts from all of you, "said Antti Matula, vice president of Kemira's product line and business development.
When talking about the function of food packaging, consumers mainly give priority to the hygienic and leak-proof performance of the packaging box. At the same time, the interviewees believe that the packaging material itself is also very important. For the topic "I am willing to pay more for renewable packaging of food (such as cartons or other biomaterials)", 85% of Chinese consumers, 55% of German consumers, 46% of American consumers, and 44% of Finnish consumers gave a positive response.
Many interviewees said that they insisted on recycling packaging: 80% of respondents in Finland and Germany, and 40% of respondents in China and the United States said they often recycle cartons. Compared with the United States, the plastic recycling rate of the other three countries is much lower.
The survey also reflected a global discussion about plastics. Most interviewees said they are trying to reduce the amount of plastic used in their lives. The percentage of respondents in Germany agreeing with this view is 83%, Finland is 67%, the United States is 58%, and in China, 93% of the respondents agree with this view.