A Study on Impact of Food Packaging Materials and Disposal Practices of Consumer on the Environment

Abstract

Food is a first basic necessity of humans so food safety has always been a matter of concern. Food packaging plays a foremost role in ensuring safety within the food supply. Food packaging has evolved with many variations as the lifestyle of a man has changed. Presently, most commonly used packaging materials are plastic, aluminum, glass and paper and paperboard. With that, the increasing amount of waste from food packaging carries a huge environmental burden. In this context, disposal practices of the consumer hold an utmost importance. The disposal practices of the consumer are not as desirable and satisfactory. As the methods of disposal, people mostly engaged in three common activities like dumping, burning and burying which are associated with many environmental consequences. The rapid growth in food industries and in the use of such materials and their incorrect disposal, is leading to various pollutions, animal deaths, human health problems which creates a chain to affect tremendously our environment. The management of food packaging waste has become a major matter of concern. This paper aimed to measure the impact of food packaging material and disposal practices of consumers on the environment. Therefore, this study will help understand how their daily lifestyle alters their decision on food packaging disposal. The data were collected using a questionnaire and interview schedule. A total of 100 respondents were considered for the present study. This method of sampling technique adopted is stratified random sampling. The findings of the study revealed that consumers are not practicing correct disposal methods even though they are aware of their reserve consequences on the environment.

View Article