EU Green Week: Food packaging is an essential part of achieving Europe’s Green Deal ambition

HUHTAMÄKI OYJ PRESS RELEASE 31.5.2021 AT 11:00

EU Green Week: Food packaging is an essential part of achieving Europe’s Green Deal ambition

Food production is responsible for a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, but today it is estimated that approximately one third of all food produced globally is wasted. This significant number represents 8% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.¹ Packaging helps protect food from damage and spoilage from transport to storage and from stores to our homes. Packaging therefore ensures that the resources used to produce food, and the carbon footprint created, are not wasted.

Food packaging is integral to the product it contains. With the demand of food on the rise, the need for sustainable packaging solutions also increases for consumers around Europe and the world. Food packaging is essential for food protection and availability. Crucially, it is part of the solution to enable sustainable food systems, which the EU Green Dealseeks to achieve.

This year’s EU Green Week focuses on the topic of pollution. The recently adopted EU Zero Pollution Action Plan aims to tackle the harmful effects that pollution has on both human health and the environment. This plan also includes the 2030 goal to decrease waste and plastic litter at sea by 50% as well as to lower the number of microplastics released into the environment by 30%.

When it comes to solutions for post-consumer packaging, Huhtamaki is committed to having 100% of our products recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2030. With regards to emissions, we also aim for use of 100% renewable energy and carbon neutral production by 2030. Evidence-based regulation and a legislative framework that provides an enabling framework for innovation are crucial to get there. With innovation and a focus on scientific evidence to find environmentally viable solutions Huhtamaki can reach these targets.

“Huhtamaki supports the EU Green Deal. We have an ambitious and comprehensive sustainability agenda. Food packaging plays a key role in our food systems, providing food availability and protection while preventing food waste. At Huhtamaki we believe that the environmental benefits of food packaging significantly outweigh its impacts. We believe as well that an enabling legislative framework underpinned by better regulation will support innovation and circular economy. To reduce the impacts of post-consumer packaging, we are committed to further increasing the recyclability of our products and collaborating across the value chain to strengthen collection and recycling solutions,” says Charles Héaulmé, CEO and President of Huhtamaki.

Huhtamaki is committed to a resource efficient circular economy. Food packaging is part of the solution to ensure sustainable food systems and to achieving the EU Green Deal.

HUHTAMÄKI OYJ
Global Communications

About Huhtamaki:
Huhtamaki is a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions for consumers around the world, enabling wellbeing and convenience. Our innovative products protect on-the-go and on-the-shelf food and beverages, ensuring hygiene and safety, and help prevent food waste. We embed sustainability in everything we do. We are committed to achieving carbon neutral production and designing all our products to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2030.

We are a participant in the UN Global Compact and as of 2020, we received an MSCI ESG Rating of A, on a scale of AAA ─ CCC. To play our part in managing climate change, we have committed to set science-based targets through the Science Based Targets initiative. Huhtamaki has been awarded the Silver medal by EcoVadis for performance in sustainability.

With 100 years of history and a strong Nordic heritage we operate in 36 countries and 81 sites around the world. Our values Care Dare Deliver guide our decisions and help our team of 18,200 employees make a difference where it matters. Our 2020 net sales totaled EUR 3.3 billion. Huhtamaki Group is headquartered in Espoo, Finland and our parent company, HuhtamäkiOyj, is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. Find out more about how we are protecting food, people and the planet on www.huhtamaki.com.

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¹ United Nations Environment Programme (2021). Food Waste Index Report 2021. Nairobi. https://www.unep.org/resources/report/unep-food-waste-index-report-2021

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