Nashville, Tenn. – As consumers are starting to demand more sustainable packaging solutions for foodservice products, operators, suppliers, and distributors must make sound business choices in their sustainability journeys.

For years, farmers looking for less expensive fertilizer turned to treated sewage sludge. Now, however, there’s evidence the sludge may have contaminated as many as 20 million acres with so-called forever chemicals – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, the Environmental Working Group reports.

From antiquity’s gourd shells to modernity’s plastic soda bottles, humanity has created numerous ways to store food and beverages. In 2022, consumers are on the lookout for the most sustainable food containers possible.

New York and California are the first of more than a dozen states banning or considering bans on so-called forever chemicals – poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS) – in food packaging because they do not break down, instead accumulating on the bodies of animals and humans, and are linked to cancers, immune system suppression and lower birth weights.

Mintel, the experts in what consumers want and why, has today announced Global Packaging Trends for 2023, featuring a PESTEL analysis* that explores the macro-environmental factors impacting the packaging industry in 2023 and beyond.