The science of single-use paper packaging

The studies that inform our Research & Innovation and enable the public to combat common misconceptions

The case for single-use paper packaging is unambiguous and compelling from every standpoint: hygiene and convenience, health and safety, trusted branding and environmental sustainability, from water and energy consumption to post-use recycling. Those aren't mere marketing claims, they’re solid scientific findings that we’re committed to publishing right here on our website, so they don't just form the basis for our Research and Development but can also inform your purchasing decisions.

 

Massive environmental benefits
of single-use paper packaging identified

Life Cycle Assessment study by the independent Ramboll Group
(Published April 2021, updated data as at the end of September 2021)

This rigorous Life Cycle Assessment by the prestigious Ramboll Group clearly identifies the numerous advantages of single-use paper-based products compared to reusable tableware in Quick Service Restaurants. Prepare yourself for some truly eye-opening benefits for Climate Change, Freshwater Consumption, Fossil and Metal Depletion, Fine Particulate Matter Formation and Terrestrial Acidification. 

The advantages of paper-based items become even clearer when the recycling rate increases.

 

Click here to follow the science and leave many common misconceptions in the past, where they belong.

 

Overwhelming environmental benefits of single-use paper packaging confirmed for takeaway and home-delivery services

Life Cycle Assessment study of takeaway and home delivery food & beverage
services in quick service restaurants
(Published November 2022)

This ground-breaking study by the prestigious Ramboll consultancy focused on takeaway and home delivery services in Quick Service Restaurants, comparing single-use paper-based products with reusable packaging made of alternative materials across an extended range of parameters (12).

The benefits of single-use paper packaging were even more dramatic here than for in-store consumption and particularly marked where CO2 emissions, mineral depletion and especially water consumption were concerned. Many experts commented on the significance of the latter in a year that saw rivers run dry across Europe during its worst drought in 500 years.

 

Click here for an overview of the compelling environmental benefits of single-use paper packaging for takeaway and home delivery food and beverages


Risk of bacterial, viral and fungal
cross-contamination from reusable food service ware
 

Report by Dr David A McDowell, Emeritus Professor of Food Studies at the University of Ulster and former Deputy Chairman of the UK Food Standards Agency’s Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF)
(Published March 2021)

This detailed report highlights the numerous food hygiene challenges in replacing single-use food service ware with reusable items and warns that the greater potential for cross-contamination with reusable items could easily lead to “increased risks of human foodborne illness”.

 

Click here to read the unpalatable truth about reusable food service ware.