Look behind the scenes to better understand sustainability

food waste, water use and impact on people and communities –have certainly grabbed a big share of the spotlight. But it’s packaging that directly touches consumers the most . . . and concerns them, when they see it headed for the landfill.

composting facility, these packs often end up in the landfill, decomposing alongside other waste and thus negating the widely promoted benefits of biodegradable and/or compostable packaging,” it says.

ment, applied twice per week, can significantly reduce powdery mildew compared to a fungicide program.

As the interest in sustainability grows, packaging has become more than a ways and means for the fruit and vegetable sector to protect delicate commodities. Growers see sustainable packaging as an investment in their operations; the public sees it as an environmental imperative. They’re both right, and the industry is paying attention.

In its annual sustainability report released in March, the Oppenheimer Group – popularly known as Oppy – identifies packaging materials as one of five specific areas of focus throughout its supply chain. The others -greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,

Plastic is the biggest concern. Oppy is a member of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association’s Plastics Working Group, charged with prioritizing and implementing system-wide changes in the industry. This group has worked with How2Recycle for three years to incorporate clear and concise consumer recycling instructions in packaging.

“Our team will continue to explore new ways of decreasing the amount of plastic used in our packaging and partnerships that improve pre- and post-consumer recycling and waste disposal infrastructure,” says Oppy. “Measurable data of our progress will soon follow.”

Meanwhile, it’s working towards alternatives. Oppy says it supports a closed-loop recycling system and it works to ensure packaging is totally recyclable, whenever feasible. With that in mind, it’s pursuing multiple objectives when designing new packaging. That includes converting multilayer pouch bags to mono-layer, limiting plastic headspace to 30 per cent, avoiding large labels to facilitate recyclable packaging and changing mesh and film material to high-density polyethylene (HDPE) so it can be recycled together.

But there’s a strong dose of reality in its sustainability report, as well, related to recycling. Oppy says that it remains interested in alternative materials such as compostable or biodegradable packaging. However, owing to a lack of disposal infrastructure in place, it’s “not working” with these materials.

“Without the proper infrastructure, such as a commercial

Oppy remains focused on technology-based solutions. It’s worked with Hazel Technologies, a leading shelf-life extension (SLE) company, on multiple trials, including tests on table grapes from South America in 2020 and table grapes from California in 2021. It says in both trials, Hazel’s SLE sachets resulted in grapes with a crisper texture, greener and stronger stems. These grapes maintained higher quality for a longer duration of time.

And last summer Oppy carried out a pilot project with Saga Robotics, testing the application of UV-C light to mitigate the presence of powdery mildew, one of the most common diseases in California strawberry production. It compared the impact of using UV-C light instead of chemical controls to treat this disease. The data collection and analysis for this trial were managed by the Cal Poly Strawberry Center. The results suggested a UV-C treat-

“While this type of study needs to be replicated for further validation, we are very encouraged by the results,” says Oppy in its annual report. “A significant amount of research and trials are underway in the strawberry industry with early indications that also point to UV-C light potentially being a viable option for mitigating powdery mildew.” Oppy will continue to support this research to determine if commercial implementation is feasible. Consumers will likely never see these technologies in action. But they’ll benefit when their produce stays fresher longer. Communicating what’s going on behind the scenes, like Oppy does in its sustainability report, is vital to better widespread understanding of fruit and vegetable handling.