Browsing by Person "Weinrich, Ramona"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Bioplastics for food packaging: Environmental impact, trends and regulatory aspects
(2022) Cruz, Rui M. S.; Krauter, Victoria; Krauter, Simon; Agriopoulou, Sofia; Weinrich, Ramona; Herbes, Carsten; Scholten, Philip B. V.; Uysal-Unalan, Ilke; Sogut, Ece; Kopacic, Samir; Lahti, Johanna; Rutkaite, Ramune; Varzakas, Theodoros
The demand to develop and produce eco-friendly alternatives for food packaging is increasing. The huge negative impact that the disposal of so-called “single-use plastics” has on the environment is propelling the market to search for new solutions, and requires initiatives to drive faster responses from the scientific community, the industry, and governmental bodies for the adoption and implementation of new materials. Bioplastics are an alternative group of materials that are partly or entirely produced from renewable sources. Some bioplastics are biodegradable or even compostable under the right conditions. This review presents the different properties of these materials, mechanisms of biodegradation, and their environmental impact, but also presents a holistic overview of the most important bioplastics available in the market and their potential application for food packaging, consumer perception of the bioplastics, regulatory aspects, and future challenges.
Kunststoffabfallmanagement und Strategien für eine Kreislaufwirtschaft in der Lebensmittelindustrie
(2025) Mielinger, Ellen; Weinrich, Ramona
The increasing global volume of waste poses a threat to the environment and the climate. Limiting the amount of waste and transforming the prevailing linear systems into a circular economy is an important task of our time. Packaging waste and especially plastic food packaging, account for a large proportion of waste due to their strong frequency and short lifespan. Avoiding waste from the outset and reducing food packaging is a top priority. At the same time, however, packaging increases the shelf life and transportability of foods, which is why it is often necessary to package food. Besides the threat to the earth’s health caused by plastic waste, food waste is also a major problem. To relieve the burden on ecosystems and achieve sustainability at all levels, it is therefore fundamental to prevent food waste and increase the recycling rates for packaging waste. In addition to technical innovations and the upgrading of recycling plants, consumer behaviour and the behaviour of the food industry play a decisive role. Through correct sorting behaviour at the household level and separately collected waste higher recycling rates can be achieved. On the other hand, which packaging and packaging materials are placed on the market by the food industry is crucial for a functioning circular economy. Against this background, the dissertation Plastic waste management and strategies for a circular economy in the food industry was authored. The first part of this dissertation analyses the introduction of sustainable food packaging from a social science perspective. Cross-national expert interviews provide information on what influences decision-making in companies in the food industry concerning sustainable packaging and what role consumers play from the experts' point of view. Although packaging sustainability is important, the economic aspect prevails when trade-offs between environmental compatibility and (additional) costs occur. According to the experts, consumers do not have sufficient knowledge and interest in packaging, leading to poor purchase decisions. This hinders the establishment of sustainable packaging. Moreover, the establishment of sustainable packaging is impeded by a certain disempowerment the interviewed experts feel exposed to. As a result, the experts dismiss the responsibility for more sustainable packaging solutions and shift it onto the state and food retailers. In line with a circular economy, in addition to the design and utilisation of environmentally friendly product packaging, the handling of the packaging after the consumption of the product is also of essential importance. Therefore, the second part of this thesis deals with the waste disposal behaviour of consumers. Influencing factors of waste separation behaviour at the private household level, preferred ways of information transmission concerning recycling rules and an extended deposit system as an approach to promoting the circular economy are analysed. Apart from packaging factors such as labels, internal factors that can be directly linked back to consumers can influence plastic packaging sorting behaviour. Focus group discussions reveal that uncertainty and confusion regarding the type of material often stand in the way of correct sorting behaviour. The internet and social media in particular are preferred for the information transmission of waste separation practices. Also, external factors, such as financial incentives or the prevalent waste disposal system, can influence consumers' sorting behaviour. One type of financial incentive is, for example, a deposit paid on single-use plastic packaging. This deposit is refunded as soon as the packaging is returned. This ensures a clean material flow, which can lead to higher recycling rates. Such a deposit refund system (DRS) already exists in Germany, including single-use beverage packages. Expert interviews with various stakeholders in the German waste management industry suggest that the success of the system in use and consumers' familiarity with it speaks for extending it also onto other single-use plastic food packages. However, this would require various different legal adjustments and the cooperation of all stakeholders involved in the process. There are also a number of organisational, economic and technical challenges that might stand in the way of an extension. In addition to the ecological optimisation of food packaging and resulting packaging waste, avoiding food waste at the private household level is an important sustainability goal. Therefore, in the digression of this work, a smartphone application aiming at reducing food waste is presented. The presented prototype can help consumers to better assess the shelf life of food and reduce uncertainty. Limitations concerning the results of the work arise primarily from the qualitative, explorative research approaches. Qualitative research is used to gain detailed and in-depth insights. Due to smaller sample sizes, it is not possible to derive generalisable results.
Nachhaltigkeitstransformation im Agrar- und Ernährungssektor: Verbraucherakzeptanz von Innovationen bei Lebensmitteln
(2024) Wendt, Marie-Catherine; Weinrich, Ramona
The current agricultural and food system is under significant pressure to transform and is in- creasingly confronted with numerous sustainability challenges and environmental, climate, and socio-political demands. Innovations in the food sector play a key role in addressing global sustainability challenges and accelerating the transformation of production and consumption patterns. However, the successful market introduction of innovative products and technologies requires consumer acceptance. This dissertation aims to investigate consumer acceptance of innovative food technologies and farming systems through empirical consumer surveys and to identify societal acceptance barriers. The study is exemplified by two subject areas. Subject Area I: “Consumer Acceptance of Technological Food Innovations” highlights that technological innovations in the food sector often face rejection, significantly hindering their market success and the transformation process. It is evident that Food Technology Neophobia (FTN) – the fear or aversion towards novel foods – is a significant predictor of the acceptance of innovative food technologies. Consumers with high FTN show a lower willingness to accept innovative food products and technologies. Assessing FTN prior to product launches is crucial for product development and marketing research. This assessment allows for estimating the success rate of innovative food products in the market, identifying potential risks early, and subsequently developing targeted strategies to overcome or reduce FTN. For the success of innovative food technologies, such as the production of cultured meat, con- sumer trust in the food industry, regulatory authorities, and science is essential. The second contribution segments the German population based on their trust in cultured meat and various actors along the food chain. Four consumer segments were identified, with trusting consumers (17.5%) forming the smallest segment. In contrast, 24.3% are classified as mistrustful consum- ers. The largest group comprises the cautious consumers (37.5%), who, together with the skep- tical consumers (20.7%), are undecided regarding their trust and purchase intention for cultured meat. Since these segments constitute almost 60% of the German population, the findings sug- gest that researching trust-building communication measures for these segments is particularly relevant. This could expand the potential target group for cultured meat and facilitate a success- ful market entry in Germany. A new agricultural concept is characterized by the complete abandonment of chemically syn- thetic pesticides while maintaining mineral fertilization. This has the potential to drive the trans- formation process towards more sustainable agriculture. In the second subject area, “Consumer Acceptance of Sustainability Innovations in Primary Production”, the market potential of pes- ticide-free animal products is examined in two interrelated contributions. Potential consumers (22.9%) show a willingness to consume pesticide-free products and to pay 31% more for pes- ticide-free milk, 23% more for cheese, and 24% more for butter than for conventional dairy products. The acceptance of these products is fostered by health consciousness, chemophobia, and perceived consumer effectiveness, while price sensitivity negatively affects acceptance. Targeted market positioning as a sustainable but more affordable alternative to organically pro- duced foods could make this innovative farming system attractive to a broad consumer base. Based on the findings, societal acceptance debates can be explained and resolved through the following aspects: (1) There is a general skepticism towards innovations in the food sector within the German population, mainly due to a lack of trust and insufficient information about production and regulatory processes. (2) Targeted communication approaches are necessary to clearly convey the added value of these products to consumers. (3) Increasing acceptance re- quires an integrative approach that includes education, transparency, and regulatory measures. Through targeted and coordinated efforts, companies, governments, and educational institu- tions can build consumer trust and promote the acceptance of new food technologies. This is essential for successfully transforming the agricultural and food system and achieving global sustainability goals.
Sustainable food packaging: An updated definition following a holistic approach
(2023) Dörnyei, Krisztina Rita; Uysal-Unalan, Ilke; Krauter, Victoria; Weinrich, Ramona; Incarnato, Loredana; Karlovits, Igor; Colelli, Giancarlo; Chrysochou, Polymeros; Fenech, Margaret Camilleri; Pettersen, Marit Kvalvåg; Arranz, Elena; Marcos, Begonya; Frigerio, Valeria; Apicella, Annalisa; Yildirim, Selçuk; Poças, Fátima; Dekker, Matthijs; Johanna, Lahti; Coma, Véronique; Corredig, Milena
Food packaging solutions need to be redesigned to be more sustainable, but determining which solution is ‘more optimal’ is a very difficult task when considering the entire food product value chain. Previous papers paved the way toward a sustainable food packaging definition, but it is far from being commonly accepted or well usable in the broad food systems domain, which further results in uninformed choices for sustainable food packaging made by all stakeholders in the value chain: producers, distributors, practitioners and consumers. Therefore, this work aims first at giving a state-of-the-art overview of sustainable food packaging terms (38 similar terms were identified and grouped into four clusters: Sustainable, Circular, Bio and Other sustainable packaging) and definitions using systematic (narrative) review analysis and ‘controlled expert opinion feedback’ methodology. Second, it aims to offer an updated definition for sustainable food packaging, which is also specific to food packaging and be simple, coherent, easily understandable, and communicable to everybody. The applied holistic approach intends to include all aspects of the food-packaging unit, to consider food safety and packaging functionality, while taking into account different disciplines and challenges related to food packaging along the supply chain. Being a balancing act, a sustainable food packaging may not be a perfect solution, but contextual, suboptimal and in need of constant validation.