January 2015: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), during the preparatory meeting for the 56th meeting of the Advisory Committee on Sustainable Forest-Based Industries (ACSFI), discussed ongoing work on bio-based packaging for saving food and greening the food and drinks supply chain (FDSC).

The discussion builds on a white paper released by FAO and partners noting that many emerging economies face high import costs for food packaging in part because they neglect bio-based packaging options. Furthermore, the paper notes that there is a need for further research on trade-offs among food value chain actors and improved technologies adapted to local raw materials.

Ongoing work in FAO is also exploring the establishment of the International Coalition on ‘Bio-based Packaging – a Green Food Saver’ in order to better understand the role of bio-based packaging in food security and opportunities for alleviating food waste.

The Coalition is intended to build the evidence base for bio-based packaging, promote its adoption at the consumer and corporate level, and establish multi-stakeholder partnerships for mainstreaming bio-based packaging into key food value chains. [Publication: Report of the Preparatory Meeting for the 56th Advisory Committee on Sustainable Forest-Based Industries (ACSFI)] [Website: FAO Bio-based Packaging 2014]