The case for perishable foods
Foods and beverages, such as milk, juice, and plant-based alternatives, are highly perishable and have a shorter shelf life than other food types. Ensuring food safety while continuing to lower the carbon footprint of the food value chain is imperative for the food industry.
Aseptic means free from microbiological contamination. Aseptic packaging systems can keep perishable liquid foods safe and flavourful and protect them from heat damage for six to twelve months without refrigeration or preservatives while retaining their colour, texture, taste, and nutrition.
Aseptic processing and packaging solutions can protect perishable foods, making them safely available to consumers and extending their shelf life over vast distances.
Sustainable packaging in the European Union
Today, 154 billion litres of perishable liquid foods, such as juices, milk and plant-based alternatives, are consumed in the EU each year1 – roughly 300 litres per person. The food industry chooses beverage cartons for about 59% of juices, 75% of milk and a major share of dairy alternatives in the EU2. If not aseptically processed and packed, perishables must be kept in the cold chain, with a shorter shelf life.
European policymakers have recently revised the legislation regulating packaging for this type of food in line with the EU Green Deal3 ambitions aiming to make food systems sustainable and resilient while supporting reductions in food loss, food waste and carbon footprint.
The revision focuses on reducing packaging waste, increasing the reuse and recycling of packaging, and using plastic recycled content in packaging in line with the EU Circular Economy Action Plan and the European Green Deal objectives. By 2030, all packaging placed on the EU market should either be recyclable or reusable.
Packaging: Recyclable or Reusable?
To learn more about the environmental and economic impact of packaging perishable liquid foods in recyclable aseptic beverage cartons versus reusable packaging alternatives, we asked consultancy Steward Redqueen to undertake comparative studies for both milk and orange juice. These studies drew on data from six major European markets.
In the case of milk, the study found that switching from aseptic beverage cartons to reusable packaging alternatives could lead to increased CO2 emissions, higher milk prices for consumers and economic losses across the value chain, including for farmers. Click here to download the study.
The orange juice study similarly found that the switch could also increase CO2 emissions and consumer prices, possibly leading to a reduction in orange juice consumption and a market contraction.
Why do European juice producers choose aseptic systems?
In juice production, the aseptic process of heat treatment, filling and packaging at the food producer maintains the absence of harmful microorganisms across the entire distribution chain until consumption8.
This helps extend the shelf life of perishable foods and beverages, minimising loss and waste.
1Key figures on the European food chain, Eurostat, 2021.
22018 Liquid Fruit Market Report, AIJN, 2018; Impact assessment study of an EU-wide collection for recycling target of beverage cartons, ACE, 2022;
3A European Green Deal, European Commission, 2019.
4Eurostat, 'Food waste per capita in the EU remained stable in 2021'
5Extended shelf life milk-advances in technology, Rysstad and Kolstad, 2006.
6Growth of food-borne pathogens Listeria and Salmonella and sporeforming Paenibacillus and Bacillus in commercial plant-based milk alternatives, Klaudia Bartula, Máire Begley, Noémie Latour, Michael Callanan, FOOD MICROBIOLOGY, 2023.
7Supporting evidence - Environmental performance of beverage cartons, Circular Analytics, 2020
8Tetra Pak Orange Book.
9The circular economy is a systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. – Ellen MacArthur.