Consumer packaged goods company Libstar aims to reduce waste and contribute to the circular economy by investing in sustainable packaging.

“In 2018, we started off with five biodegradable and compostable products in our food service offering. Now, we have more than 120, including our Precious Planet range of enviro-friendly packaging products,” says Libstar subsidiary Rialto commercial executive Derek Couzens.

“By the end of the year, we are aiming for 40% of our food service packaging to be entirely sustainable - either recyclable, biodegradable or compostable. That is essential if we are to do our part in being responsible corporate citizens,” he adds.

Eliminating food waste and loss is critical, and up to 49% of waste in South Africa happens in the processing and packaging stage of the value chain, a 2021 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research study showed.

“Research indicates that 83% of millennial consumers prefer to pay more for sustainable packaging. This, in turn, has led to some sustainable products growing at a rate of more than seven times that of non-sustainable ones.

“That means being environmentally ethical is not just the right thing to do, it is also an ultimate sustainable value-add to one’s business and business partners,” he says.

A circular economy is an economic model designed to minimise waste by moving away from single-use materials and encouraging sustainable production techniques.

From a packaging perspective, this means creating and using materials that can be recycled, used as compost or reused repeatedly. For example, the push for creating circular economies has fuelled the use of bagasse, a waste product of sugarcane, as a sustainable packaging solution, says Couzens.

Currently, recycling is one of the best practical examples of what circular economies could look like. To contribute to reducing waste and increasing recovery, as well as the recycling and reuse of materials in the South African market, extended producer responsibility fees were introduced locally in November 2021.

Rialto has also moved quickly to achieve compliance in this regard, he notes.

Consumption choices are powerful decisions that can shape markets and production patterns. They can have a tremendous impact on how companies and governments use and allocate natural resources. Education around sustainable consumption, however, is a team effort that requires both consumers and producers to become responsible citizens to help make an economy truly circular.