Throughout the past decade, climate change issues have risen to the top. People are becoming more and more aware of the potential impacts of global warming. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are now a concept many industries and governments measure and control at multiple levels. The term “carbon footprint” is now part of our vocabulary. For some, daily habits are now directly influenced by this urge to manage their GHG emissions globally and reduce their individual carbon footprint.

First things first, what is carbon footprint? Derived from the concept of ecological footprint introduced in the 1990’s, carbon footprint refers to the total amount of GHG emissions expressed in tons or kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emitted by a person, an entity or a process. The unit CO2e allows regrouping all types of GHG, such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (NOx) or chlorofluocarbons (CFC) into one GHG metric. Therefore, carbon footprint can be used in different contexts: human activities, a company’s supply chain and for specific products or goods. In recent years, this concept has been the center of studies to evaluate the GHG emissions resulting from different types of packaging and their role in preventing food waste.

In March 2020, the National Zero Waste Council published, in parthership with RECYC-Québec, Éco Entreprise Québec and Vancity, a report regarding the role of packaging in prevention of food waste in Canadian households. One of the criteria analyzed was the GHG emission resulting from the manufacturing of the packaging itself compared to the emissions from the product it packages.

This study showed that some packaging contributes more than others to the overall carbon footprint of the products. For example, a plastic packaging container for berries is responsible for a third of the total emissions of the product during its lifecycle. In contrast, a plastic bag only contributes 1% of the overall carbon footprint of the bread, showing plastic bags provide the most efficient use of resources.