Is there flex when it comes to sustainability?

It’s 2022, and a new year brings opportunities for a fresh start. We wipe the slate clean, ready for the challenges that lie ahead. While Janauray is still very much winter territory, we know in the blink of an eye, spring will be upon us, signalling a new season and the rebirth of nature after some chillingly cold months.

We’ve always been honest about our journey when it comes to sustainability, and we are growing everyday. For us, developing a solid sustainability policy is a marathon, not a sprint and it’s a job we take very seriously. When creating our sustainability policies and how we condusct ourselves, we like to dig a little deeper.

Going green is an easy thing to say, but when it comes to practical implementation there are a mountain of challenges and that’s not an excuse. We aim to do better, everyday and are constantly looking for environmentally friendly alternatives that will help us to be kinder to the environment while still maintaining the quality and integrity of our product.

We’re currently in the process of gaining some very exciting certifications that we hope to be able to tell you more about in the coming issues of Sweet Talk, but until then, let’s talk about some of the general misconceptions when it comes to packaging.

As a confectionery brand we’re always looking for exciting and innovative packaging ideas and ways to help to balance our carbon footprint and act in a more sustainable way, but it’s not as easy as you might think.

If we mention the word plastic, in a sustainability conversation, you might be quick to point out how ‘bad’ plastic is, but this material has it’s uses and now plastic can be recycled too. Further more, the infrastructure of plastic production means that there is no shortage of supply and it doesn’t directly use up natural resources in its production and as it can now also be recycled in a safe way, it has endless possibilities.

When it comes to food packaging, it is important to remember that not just anything can be used to package food, we have ‘food grade’ packaging, which means it’s a safe environment to house edible products. This adds extra challenges when creating sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging.

So what are the alternatives? Paper is of course a strong alternative to plastic, easily recyclable and a natural resource, it seems like an obvious choice, but while there are certainly spaces where this is very doable, we also have to remember that paper is a finite resource. We have to grow enough trees to satisfy the demand for paper products and that in turn also adds pressure to growers and the planet, as the paper will need to come from sustainable sources. Is it feasible to replace all plastic with paper without adding further environmental strain?

Glass is another packaging material that is also made from natural resources and is often seen as being more environmentally friendly than plastics but did you know that glass doesn’t naturally disintegrate for hundreds of years! That means that it shouldn’t really go to landfill and has to be recycled. Now of course glass recycling in countries such as the UK are fairly developed, but recycling glass also increases your carbon footprint, hindering the movement towards carbon neutral production. That doesn’t mean that glass is not environmentally friendly, but it isn’t all quite as clear cut as it seems. made in the packaging industry all the time but it is certainly a process and a journey. Sustainable packaging needs to make sure that they also maintain the products shelf life so that we aren’t throwing away products too, as this too strains the supply and production chains, both environmentally and financially.

While plastic has often been painted as the enemy, bio-plastics offer new and exciting opportunities for a best of both world, with packaging that is potentially biodegradable and compostable. But we need to make sure local councils and facilities have the ability to dispose of them, so that the chain isn’t broken.

So what are we using here at Farhi? While we do use plastic for some of our products, we have also been working with our manufacturers and suppliers to move some products into NatureFlex ™ packaging, which is a fully compostable, bio plastic product. This unique packaging helps to maintain the freshness of the product and of course, it is food grade safe.

The cellulose used to make NatureFlex ™ is made from renewable wood pulp that is gathered sustainably from FSC managed forests. NatureFlex ™ also has a coating that can offer protection against moisture, maximising the shelf life of products. NatureFlex ™ can then be broken down and degrade very quickly, you can even compost it like you would with your normal garden waste.

The future of food packaging is certainly a complicated one, but it is very bright. It’s easy to make assumptions on what is ‘best’ but like with our new packaging, there needs to be a little bit of ‘flex’, we all want to do better for the planet and there is no one answer with what is ‘right’ and wrong’, it’s not as easy as that. But we are doing our best and hope to do better tomorrow than we did today.