We are pleased to announce that 2018-19 IFST POST Fellow, Caroline Wood, has co-authored the POSTnote on Plastic Food Packaging Waste. It is designed to be read in conjuction with the POSTnote on Compostable Food Packaging.
Plastic packaging is widely used in the food sector but plastic waste in environment is a growing consumer concern. This POSTnote outlines the main options for reducing packaging waste (removing, reusing, replacing and recycling plastics) and examines the potential to combine them into a coordinated waste strategy.
On choosing the topic of her POSTnote, Caroline said: "I was particularly keen to work on a very topical issue where my POSTnote could have a significant impact. Plastic waste is an immense, complex problem with many of the possible approaches to solve it having their own disadvantages for the environment. Policy makers need to be informed so we don't move straight from one problem to another: hopefully my POSTnote will help in this respect."
Each year IFST provides funding of £5,000 for a PhD student to spend three months at POST working on a food-related POSTnote. The POSTnotes are then dispersed amongst Parliamentarians to provide digests on a topical subject within science and technology.