The European Commission has just launched a consultation entitled "What future for our food system?". Based on the observation that in Europe we waste about 89 million tons of food every year, the European Commission is asking for opinions on how to prevent and reduce food waste and use resources more efficiently.

Current environmental policy tends to favour minimising packaging. However, the effect of under-packaging (or using the wrong kind of packaging) can lead to massive product loss and thus to much higher environmental impact compared to the impact of optimised packaging.

Good packaging uses only as much of the right kind of material necessary to bring the product to the consumer in perfect condition. Well-designed packaging will meet the requirements of the product while minimising the economic and environmental impacts of both the product and its package.