Impact of Food Packaging Materials on the Environment

Abstract

Food packaging encloses food contents to protect them from tampering or contamination from physical, chemical, and biological sources, with active packaging being the standard packaging system used for preserving food products. This study aims to examine the impact of food packaging materials on the human environment. Three Research questions guided the study. To achieve this, the descriptive survey research design was adopted. The study focused on Odeda local government area. The simple random sampling technique was used to select 150 community members within the study area. A four point Likert Type Rating Scale Questionnaire type, ‘Impact of Food Packaging Materials on the Environment’, was used to collect data from the selected respondents. The descriptive statistics of frequency counts and the simple percentage were used to analyze the demographic data and the research questions. Findings revealed, amongst other things, that food packaging materials significantly affect the environment if not rightly disposed of. To this end, the study recommended that Government should ensure the provision of disposable vehicles which would help collect waste and, importantly, there should be a campaign towards the appropriate disposal of food packaging materials by the people; this campaign should, amongst other things, address the need for an environment that is free for harmful substance for human habitation.