Every year, relief organizations deliver millions of metric tons of food across the globe. Most humanitarian emergencies arise in areas torn by armed conflict or natural disasters. They are complex operations with many logistical challenges. Some of the food is shipped internationally, some is procured locally, all of it is packaged in billions of polypropylene bags, plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, or aluminum wrappers.

Once opened, the majority of humanitarian food packaging therefore becomes waste, and very often ends up burned or in a landfill.

Every year food assistance operations generate tens of thousands of tons of packaging waste, enough to fill stadiums. This is a substantial source of pollution as plastic and aluminum biodegradation takes centuries, and it should not be a burden for the countries receiving assistance.

The issue has been acknowledged by the humanitarian sector in recent years, and new policies to improve sustainability of the supply chain are being drafted. For production and procurement some agencies are trying to use biodegradable or recycled materials. For distribution, bulk packaging is preferred when operationally feasible. Packaging is sometimes designed to be reused, repurposed, for example rice sacks are often used as bags, plastic bottles as pots to grow herbs. Once packaging turns into waste, some initiatives exist to collect and recycle it.

The humanitarian sector started to shift its mindset to a circular economy approach whereby waste is not a problem to solve, a negative externality to correct, but an opportunity to create value.

Read the full article about reducing the environmental footprint of humanitarian assistance by Louis Tran Van Lieu at Food Tank.