My analysis will tackle the issue of how social media conversation can be used to better the packaging process in the American food processing and packaging industry as a mean of realizing environmental sustainability. Social media can be used by various organizations and individuals to campaign for environmentally friendly packaging material to be used by food processing and packaging companies. This conversation should be directed towards the realization of reusable, recyclable and biodegradable packing material (GlobalPulse 2015).
A given portion of social media conversations is directed towards the realization of environmental sustainability. For instance, people will assess, share, and modify information on how people can use their consumer power to push food packing firms to employ the use of more environmentally friendly packaging material. By researching the views of Twitter users it is easy to see how young people think improvement in food packaging can lead to the realization of environmental conversation and sustainability (Tolkki 2015). One people could use his social media to market to educate his/he peers on the polluting potential of non-recyclable packaging, while another person could use twitter to mobilize consumers to request their local food packaging plants to use reusable and biodegradable packaging material. Organizations can also join the movement towards environmental sustainability by employing social media in diverse ways: gather customer feedback, and interact with customers on how they can better their packaging process to reduce their carbon footprint and pollution levels. Through the use of random sampling and quantitative methods the data was analysed and presented using software such as Tableau and Microsoft Excel (Andreina & Fuduric 2014)l. The Twitter data was assessed to expose how twitter users felt about the push towards environmental sustainability through the adoption of better food packaging techniques.
All Twitter users agreed that social media plays a crucial part in the realization of environmental sustainability through the revision of food packaging material. For instance, 20% of all respondents expressed their firm belief that social media and other digital avenues can be used to remedy bad packaging practises exhibited by firms in the food processing and packaging industry (Boyang & Marita 2013). 60% of interviewees believe that social media has discussed new and more appropriate methods through which food processing and packaging companies can reduce costs and maximize on environmental sustainability. Social media is an informal platform that creates a serene environment for both food packaging businesses and customers to communicate without any barriers that are devices by formal and official settings. 82% of respondents believe that by driving more conversations about environmental sustainability; food packaging firms will be challenged to adapt more eco-friendly packaging techniques to address the issue of customer royalty. For instance, teenager can use social media to appeal to Tyson Foods with the aim of motivating them to reduce the amount of plastic used in the packaging of their products (Tsimonis & Tsimonis. 2013).
Intra social media communication between employees is a great way of educating people on environmental sound packing material that can be used within their firm. As such, the employees can forward the information they have gathered on social media to their employer in an effort to motivate management to take a positive stand on the matter of environment sustainability. This awareness method (within business premises communication) has proved inexpensive and easy to adopt because the service is available for free and employees have extensive experience in using it. Moreover, 70% of Twitter users agreed that they do believe that there is more that can be done by food process and packaging companies to mitigate pollution and enhance environmental sustainability (Sedlacekova 2017). 12% of all response twitter users indicated that they are directly or indirectly involve in the packaging process within their respectively employment place. 50% of these individuals believe that there are indeed steps that management can take to better packaging and improve on environmental sustainability. Therefore, food packaging companies’ employees can use different social media channels in order to driven environmental sustainability within these business establishments. Poor Utilization of social media platforms (Twitter) to motivate food packaging organizations towards environmental sustainability continues to be one of the leading reasons why non-recyclable packaging material is still used in United States of America. (Tolkki 2015).
Conclusions
The assessment results indicate that more social media conversations should be directed towards the establishment of environmental sustainability in the United States of America. These conversations should challenge food processing and packing companies to want to better their packaging material to appeal to customers who are critical about environmental conservation and sustainability. The use of social media as a campaign tool for sustainability in food packaging across the United States of America should be something to be taken seriously by Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram users. It is the responsibility of all members of society to ensure that food packaging is done properly and with the right material for the sake of preserving the environment (Ahmad 2015).
Digitization is popularly defined as the improvement and advancement in networking and connectivity of digital technology for the purpose of bettering trade, services, a communication amongst people and different organizations. Organizations like the Unite Nations have seen digitization as an opportunity for them to implement their objectives such as the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goals comprise of one hundred and sixty nine targets and seventeen objectives. The continuous growth and innovation in the digital world has created numerous platforms on which individual and communal information is harvest and store (Linkov et al. 2018).
The information is then used to formulate new ways in which social and environmental well-being can be enhanced to better the quality of life, health facilities, wastage management avenues, and desire by later generations to preserve the environment. Therefore, digitization has been viewed to contribute substantially towards social and environmental sustainability threats and limitations by fostering cyber-security issues, and social inequalities. The form of social inequality is created by uneven provision of communication and information technologies that is commonly referred to as the digital divide. This difference cause there to be two sides of those that benefit and others that loss in terms of job allocation, social amenities, and economic resources (Linkov et al. 2018).
Some recommendations can be made benefit the issue of sustainability and digital competencies: for instance, governments can create regulations that promote the growth of beneficial aspects of digitization, while on the other hand suppressing the evils associated with increase connectivity and networking across the world. Secondly, governments can device avenues that promote innovation and capacity building without contributing to environmental and social harms (Linkov et al. 2018).
How food processing and packaging companies in America are improving the packaging process to promote environmental sustainability and conservation. There is need for food processing and packaging companies to better the techniques and materials they use to pack different food items. By using biodegradable or eco-friendly packaging material they substantially reduce environmental pollution as a result of packaging waste (Blumer 2010).
Many researchers and environmental conservationists have written and published numerous documents that seek to address the issue of sustainability. One such researcher is Al Gore who wrote the controversial article titled “Inconvenient Truth”. The push by prominent writers for sustainability in the packaging can be traced all the way back to the early 1970s. According to many, MacDonald’s Fast Food Company is viewed as the leading cause of obesity and heart related ailments in America because of their unhealthy menu items; however, this company was amongst the first to adapt environmentally friendly packaging material (GAIC 2017).
Following the controversial debates of the late 1970s and early 1980s that revolved around the extensive harm cause by logging; the founder of MacDonald’s, Ray Kent, hire researchers from the Stanford Research Institute to investigate the environmental impact of different packaging material (Popescu 2016). The research focused on comparing the non-recyclable paperboard with a newly developed packaging material polystyrene (PS). The study revealed that polystyrene was considerably cheaper to produce, could be recycled, and caused substantially less pollution compared to paperboards. After this discover MacDonald’s quickly incorporated the production and use of polystyrene into their business operations. Later in 1991, MacDonald’s switch to poly-wrap coated wax which was meet to resolve the issue of extensive chlorinate fluorocarbons (CFC) produced in the production of polystyrene (Ahmad 2015).
In spite of tough economic conditions for both consumers and manufacturers; society as a whole still feels the need to establish and develop sustainability. According to poll survey conducted by “The Consumer Network Inc.” website on two thousand American in 2009, researchers found that 25% of all participants were willing to pay a little more for the food if it would ensure the use of Eco-friendly packaging material (Wei & Yazdanifard 2013). The poll further showed that 26% of men were willing to pay for less packaging material that was environmentally friendly; this proportion was higher than the percentage of women who were willing to do the same. On the other hand, only 35% of men compared to 45% of women were willing to spend more money on reusable packaging material. According to a 2015 study performed by the American Bureau of Statistics, the popularity of reusable packaging material had greatly surpassed the used of non-recyclable packaging material. (Sedlacekova 2017)
Some people believe that the aftermath of the great recession has made American consumers considerably sensitive about protecting the environment, leading less wasteful lifestyles, and developing behaviour that promotes sustainability. Nevertheless, some economists argue that the increase spirit of sustainability has been actually paved by government interventions and international food and sanitation laws (Sedlacekova 2017). The issue of sustainable packaging is normally misunderstood, complicated or made ambiguous so much so that no one packaging material complies with all the requirements. Nevertheless, there are three main conditions that a sustainable packaging material is required to fulfil: environmental friendly, social acceptable and financial affordable. There are several techniques that are used to realize sustainability in the packaging process. For instance, down gauging this refers to the utilization of less packaging material to make the walls of the packaging item thinner and lighter. In the past, having a bulky and heavy water bottle was considered a social norm and a mark of luxury according to manufacturers and consumers of this product (Shin & Selke 2014).
However, with the dawn of climate change and environmental conservation awareness, the discovery that 100 million tonnes of plastic was being generated annually with 10% of this amount ending up in the ocean and other water ways; experts pushed for the separation between luxury and responsibility the plastic manufacturing industry. This was especially done with the target culprit being the plastic water bottle manufacturers. In spite of the factor that down gauging may not be as appealing as bio-degradability it does however reduce the polluting material, cut costs for manufacturers, and considerably limit the quantity of packaging waste that makes it into waterways, and landfills across the world. Companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Minute Maid have also joined the down gauging/grading frontier by adapting the packaging of their respective products in lighter and thinner plastic containers. For instance, Coca-Cola’s new Dasani bottle is 30% lighter and only weighs twelve point eight grams. Pepsi has also produced aplastic bottle that weighs 10.9grams, this bottle has been appropriate referred to by the manufacturers as the “Eco-Fina”. By comparison, this is a considerable reduction from the bulky 24 gram monstrosity that was being produced in the early 2000s (Kaisa, Risto & Terhen 2012).
Not one to be outdone, Nestle announced in late 2017 that they are working on a new type of packaging design that will see them reduce bottle size through the utilization of 30% less PET (polyethylene terephalate) and create three bottle shapes that will be referred to as “Eco-Shape”. The product is expected to be available for all their products Deep Park, Ice Mountain, Arrowhead, Ozarka, Zephyrhills, and Poland Spring. The new bottles are expected to be better than anything currently availed in the market by Nestle competitors (GAIC 2017).
Conclusions
Innovative ways of realizing sustainability in the food packaging process have been devices such as the introduction of down grading of packing material to reduce weight and bulk and the utilization of complex Nano-composite technology. This movement towards sustainability has been championed by the increasing degree with which people have been made aware of the current environment conditions (Russell 2012). The acceptance of moral responsibility towards the conservation of the environment has in many ways superseded the desire by many to make profits and enjoy given luxuries. Research has shown that the firms in the food packaging industry are moving as a unified front away from waste generation and utilization of petro-base products. Sustainability has been defined by the Bruntland Commission on Environment and Development 1987, as “any development that fulfills the needs and requirement of the present generation without endangering or harming the ability of future generation to meet its own demands and needs” (Koeije, Wever & Henseler 2016).
References
Ahmad, S 2015, ‘Edible Food Packaging’, Sustainability on the UT Campus: A Symposium, pp. 1-6.
Andreina, M & Fuduric, FM 2014, ‘Communicating social media policies: evaluation of current practices,’, Journal of Communication Management, pp. 158-175.
Blumer, T 2010, ‘Innovations in Sustainable Food Packaging’, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo.
Boyang, Z & Marita, V 2013, ‘Social media monitoring: aims, methods, and challenges for international companies’, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä.
GAIC, S 2017, ‘Establishment of Biodegradable Packaging for Food Products’, Government of Gujarat, Surat.
GlobalPulse, S 2015, ‘Analysing Social Media to Understand Public Perceptions of Sanitation’, UN Global Pulse, pp. 1-2.
Kaisa, G, Risto, S & Terhen, J 2012, ‘Framework for Sustainable Food Packaging Design’, WIley Online Library, pp. 23-25.
Koeije, B, Wever, R & Henseler, J 2016, ‘Realizing Product?Packaging Combinations in Circular Systems: Shaping the Research Agenda’, Packaging Technology and Science, pp. 443-460.
Linkov, I, Trump, BD, Kelsey, P-J & Florin, M-V 2018, ‘Governance Strategies for a Sustainable Digital World’, MDPI, pp. 1-8.
Popescu, P-A 2016, ‘Biodegradable active packaging for food products’, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Bucharest.
Russell, D 2012, ‘Sustainable (food) Packaging; the What, Why and How’, ILSI Europe 5th International Symposium on Food Packaging, pp. 14-16.
Sedlacekova, Z 2017, ‘Food Packaging Materials’, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki.
Shin, J & Selke, SEM 2014, ‘Food Packaging’, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Hoboken.
Tolkki, A 2015, ‘Managing Social Media Conversations’, Turku University of Applied Sciences, Turku.
Tsimonis, G & Tsimonis., SD 2013, ‘Brand strategies in social media”’, Emerald Insight, pp. 35-38.
Wei, LT & Yazdanifard, R 2013, ‘Edible Food Packaging as an Eco-friendly Technology using Green Marketing Strategy’, Global Journal of Commerce and Management Perceptive, pp. 8-11.
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