238 Results Found

The resilience of food systems is jeopardized by using food packaging materials that have adverse impacts on the environment, food quality, food safety, shelf-life, food loss, and waste. Therefore, a transition into a more sustainable system can only...

The growth of eating lunch purchased out of the home has led to an increased need for pre-packaged food-to-go products. Single-use plastic packaging is frequently chosen for its food safety and convenience attributes; however, the material format is...

The increasing utilization of single-use plastics in the food sector poses serious environmental challenges. A circular economy approach, i.e., reusing packaging before recycling, offers a promising solution but raises concerns about cross-contaminat...

This article provides a systematic literature review on the integrated approach of bio-based plastic food packaging in a circular economy. It focuses on the following key areas: (1) the role of bio-based plastic food packaging in a circular product d...

The COVID-19 pandemic has set new challenges for the HoReCa industry. Lockdowns have coincided with and strongly impacted the industrial transformation processes that have been taking place for a decade. Among the most important HoReCa transition pro...

Annatto (Bixa orellana L.) is cultivated primarily for the extraction of bixin, a natural dye with substantial industrial importance, resulting in the generation of large quantities of residues that remain underutilized. This study provides the first...

Food packaging helps to protect food from being lost or wasted, nevertheless it is perceived as an environmental problem. The present study gives an overview of methods to assess the environmental sustainability of food packaging. Furthermore, we pro...

Given its unsustainable growth, the food packaging industry (FPI) has become a priority industry in the circular economy. Given the academic significance attributed to the gradations of circularity in maximising resource efficiency in the food packag...

Advancement in packaging technology has played an essential role in reducing food waste and losses; however, most of this technology relies mostly on the use of plastics. Thus, there is an imminent need to think seriously about the transition towards...

Agricultural waste has been a prominent environmental concern due to its significant negative impact on the environment when it is incinerated, disposed of in landfills, or burned. These scenarios promoted innovations in the food packaging sector usi...

The European strategy for plastics, as part of the EU’s circular economy action plan, should support the reduction in plastic waste. One key element in this action plan is the improvement of the economics and quality of recycled plastics. In ad...

Fish waste is attracting growing interest as a new raw material for biopolymer production in different application fields, mainly in food packaging, with significant economic and environmental advantages. This review paper summarizes the recent advan...

With a focus on sustainability and functionality, this Special Issue looks at various topics, including novel food-packaging solutions, bio-based adhesives, and the integration of nanotechnology to improve performance. It emphasizes the importance of...

The development of active food packaging has evolved rapidly in recent years, offering innovative solutions to enhance food preservation and safety while addressing sustainability challenges. This review compiles and analyzes recent advancements (201...

The specificity of the business of agro-food companies is that their products have little or no impact on the environment. However, environmental pollution of these products is caused by the use of packaging. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the p...

Integrating recyclates into food packaging is key towards circularity while meeting functionality and safety requirements; however, associated environmental impacts remain underexplored. This gap was addressed through a cradle-to-gate life cycle asse...

This study presents a current status and future trends of innovative and environmentally sustainable technological solutions for the post-harvest food supply chain and the food industry, in terms of ecological packaging, active, and/or intelligent pa...

The development of sustainable packaging in the food industry is essential to meet the growing demand for more environmentally friendly practices and to contribute to material circularity and solid waste reduction. In this context, this review explor...

The increasing use of bio-based and/or biodegradable plastics reflects a global push towards more sustainable materials. In the context of food packaging, where plastic waste and contamination risks are acute, these materials offer promising alternat...

The increasing demand for sustainable food preservation technologies has spurred interest in green-synthesized carbon dots (CDs) derived from horticultural produce, positioning them as a promising nanomaterial for prolonging the shelf life of perisha...

Over the last ten years, researchers’ efforts have aimed to replace the classic linear economy model with the circular economy model, favoring green chemical and industrial processes. From this point of view, biologically active molecules, comi...

The continuous decline in the sustainable agro-food supply chain (AFSC) towards a Circular Economy (CE) has become a matter of great concern for the key stakeholders, including government organizations, businesses, end-users, and farmers. In line wit...

The necessity to produce new biodegradable polymeric materials, to overcome the economic model, based on the linear economy, and to apply the circular economy model is a global problem. As a result, components unutilized derived from industrial proce...

The agri-food supply chain uses plastic food packaging alongside many other types of packaging materials [...]

In recent years, the need for sustainable practices within the food industry has become increasingly important and incorporating Industry 4 [...]

In order to recycle plastic waste back to food contact materials (FCMs), it is necessary to identify hazardous substances in plastic packaging that pose a toxicological risk. Printing inks on plastics are not yet designed to withstand the high heat s...

Today, packaging is an integral part of most foods and beverages. However, excessive and just one-time applications of packaging can bring about indisputable environmental impacts in the form of large amounts of waste generated. If we want to monitor...

The cosmetics industry plays a significant role in the global economy and consumer lifestyles. Its dynamic and adaptable characteristics make it a key player worldwide. The cosmetics industry generates enormous profits globally, injecting billions of...

The goal of this study was to improve the functionality of two pectin (PEC) edible films by incorporating olive leaf extract (OLE) or guava leaf extract (GLE). Different concentrations of OLE or GLE (0.1 and 0.2% w/v) were used, and 30% glycerol was...

The global food industry is facing growing pressure to enhance food safety, extend shelf life, minimize waste, and adopt environmentally sustainable packaging solution. Nanotechnology offers innovative ways to meet these demands by enabling the creat...

Pectin, a natural biopolymer, can be extracted from food waste biomass, adding value to raw materials. Currently, commercial pectin is mostly extracted from citrus peels (85.5%) and apple pomace (14.0%), with a small segment from sugar beet pulp (0.5...

The valorization of coffee waste has gained traction due to its potential to generate valuable products, lessen its impact on the environment, and promote sustainability. This review examines the diverse range of coffee waste, including pulp, husk, m...

A new generation of food packaging materials, centered on green solutions, is currently being developed in labs basing these materials on underused secondary industrial food by-products which have the ability to reduce the amount of petroleum-based p...

Food loss and waste occur for many reasons, from crop processing to household leftovers. Even though some waste generation is unavoidable, a considerable amount is due to supply chain inefficiencies and damage during transport and handling. Packaging...

Water-resistant and environmentally friendly sodium-alginate-based films have been investigated to develop functional materials to extend the food’s shelf-life. A water-stable alginate-based film was prepared, employing both the internal and ex...

The present work puts the Circular Bioeconomy’s concept into action, originally valorizing residues of spent coffee grains from the beverage liquor coffee industry to develop green composite pieces of polylactide (PLA). The as-received spent co...

The widespread use of conventional plastic in food packaging has raised serious environmental issues due to its persistence and poor biodegradability. With growing concerns over plastic pollution and its long-term ecological impact, researchers are i...

Deposit Refund Systems (DRS) are widely adopted in many European countries as effective mechanisms for increasing recycling rates and promoting circular-economy practices. Greece is currently preparing for the introduction of a national DRS for bever...

Nowadays a possible strategy in food preservation consists of the use of active and functional packaging to improve safety and ensure a longer shelf life of food products. Many studies refer to chitosan-based films because of the already-known chitos...

Polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHAs, belong to a class of biopolyesters where the biodegradable PHA polymer is accumulated by microorganisms as intracellular granules known as carbonosomes. Microorganisms can accumulate PHA using a wide variety of substra...

This work reports on the development and performance evaluation of newly developed paper sheets coated, on both sides, with thin films of biodegradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) for applications of food packaging. For this,...

In light of the debate on the circular economy, the EU strategy for plastics, and several national regulations, such as the German Packaging Act, polymeric foam materials as well as hybrid packaging (multilayered plastic) are now in focus. To underst...

Consumer involvement plays a major role in the circular economy (CE), which requires a new and more active role of consumers. However, consumer awareness of and interest and involvement in the CE is low. Therefore, we aimed to find the starting point...

In the present study, a new poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) [P(3HB-co-3HV-co-3HHx)] terpolyester with approximately 68 mol% of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), 17 mol% of 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV), and 15 mol% of 3-hydroxyhex...

The food industry is continuously evolving through the application of innovative tools and ingredients towards more effective, safe, natural and ecofriendly solutions to satisfy the demands of the costumers. In this context, natural sources (i.e., le...

Regardless of the considerable progress in properties and versatility of synthetic polymers, their low biodegradability and lack of environmentally-friendly character remains a critical issue. Pectin is a natural-based polysaccharide contained in the...

This study explores the transformative role of IoT in enhancing efficiency across the food value chain. It combines secondary and primary research to identify factors that influence IoT adoption in the food sector. A thematic–bibliometric analy...

In the food packaging industry, significant efforts have been dedicated to addressing the pressing market demand for environmentally friendly and sustainable products. Biocomposite films based on compostable and biobased polymers represent a sustaina...

Domestic food waste and agro-industrial by-products (AIBPs) occurring throughout the food chain, including production, processing, and storage, have become a global sustainability concern. Interestingly, this waste and these by-products contain a sig...

Sustainable development is a global goal that entails an interdisciplinary approach for tackling ongoing and future challenges regarding the environment, climate change, economic limitations, and resource efficiency. Against this background, valorizi...