We all face choices when we buy food and one of the choices we make is how the food is packaged.
The idea of a hierarchy is we start at the top (best case scenario) and work our way down, looking for the most appropriate answer, until we hit the answer which works for us, hopefully before we hit bottom (worst case scenario). It may be that we have no choice and do end up at the bottom of the hierarchy, but by using the tool to look at our options, sometimes we can choose an option higher up the hierarchy than our current ‘go-to’ option.
Thus the food packaging hierarchy is a tool to allow us to evaluate our choices in one small area of our lives. An area which can have a negative impact on the environment and, after thinking about it, come up with the best solution for us.
The Food Packaging Hierarchy
Even if you don’t want to use these handy glass containers yourself you can pass them on to friends, family and neighbours to help them in their own preserving efforts or to schools or preschools for craft use. By using our purchasing power to buy a glass packaged product over its similar, but plastic packaged rival, we can send a powerful message to the product producers.
4. Recyclable glass/steel/aluminium containers – Some glass containers aren’t really practical for anything other than what they were originally designed to do, such as the smaller, irregularly shaped containers used for jams or condiments. So any glass container that won’t be reused in your system immediately fits into this category. To be fair, some steel food cans can be re-used in crafty situations (eg pen holder etc) or as no cost pots for plants, or even to construct a rocket stove. The down side of these ideas is that over time the steel cans will rust out and deteriorate to the point where they will be absorbed back into the soil and entropy wins again (a small win for entropy but a win nevertheless). The up side is that glass, steel and aluminium can be recycled endlessly and will turn out a product as good as the original, in fact as far as glass is concerned, less energy is required to melt a tonne of glass recycling than is required to melt the raw materials (silica sand, soda ash, limestone etc) to make a tonne of glass, not to mention the mining costs, so it is a win/win!
5. Compostable/recyclable paper/cardboard containers – strangely enough these actually seem to be becoming more popular. I have noticed a number of products including some sweet treats, packaged in paper/cardboard rather than clear plastic or polystyrene foam. This is a change also worth encouraging, although the downside is that if we compost these containers they may miss out on going to landfill but the embodied energy is lost and entropy wins again. Another downside is that paper and cardboard products cannot be recycled indefinitely. Every time they are recycled the pulping process reduces the fibre length to the point where the stock becomes useless, at which point composting is the best option.
6. Reusable plastic containers – Some of the food containers which were once served by glass packaging are now contained in plastic containers which with a bit of thought can be re-used, eg peanut butter, fruit, mayo, honey, jam etc. once they are washed out! These can be used for a number of things but because they are plastic and can’t stand heat they are no good for home preserving. You could use them for storing spices, dry goods, grains etc.
7. Recyclable plastic container – Recyclable plastic containers have a number symbol which tells you the type of plastic it is made from and while all of these are able to be recycled, there needs to be a system in place to recycle them. In Australia at the moment (April 2019) our recycling system is in a shambles because we relied on it being done overseas and the countries involved have refused to take our rubbish. This has resulted in plastic packaging which is theoretically recyclable going to land fill. Regardless of this fact, plastic is downcycled, rather than recycled, meaning that it is used to make a lower grade of plastic and so eventually winds up in an unusable dead end in most cases. Which plastics are being collected for recycling in your area will vary over time, so it is best to talk directly to your local council or their waste contractor to find out what is happening.
8. Non-recyclable plastics/mixed – any plastic not marked with an identification number cannot be recycled, with the exception of soft plastic bags which are now used by Redcycle to generate new municipal road infrastructure. There are also containers made of mixed materials like tetrapak which are difficult to recycle.
