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The Insoluble Ice Cream Cartons tainable innovation to stand out without compromising on
product quality or price,” they said.
While ice cream packaging can certainly make profits,
we should still draw our eyes to its downside — the massive Biodegradable Packaging for a Sweeter
pollution it would cause. As most ice cream packaging, just Future
like most food packaging, is designed to be conveniently
carried and disposed of, it is usually made of single-use plas- In response to the need for sustainable packaging, many
tics. Even though it is easier for people to enjoy the ice treats, ice cream brands have taken steps to upgrade their products,
and the packaging is even cleaner and safer for the consum- including some of the big names. Carte D’Ore, the ice cream
ers; the lids, spoon, stickers, and plastic wrapping still ac- brand that belongs to Unilever, switched its entire range of
counts for a big part of waste pollution for the planet. The packaging from plastic to recyclable paper tubs and lids last
US Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 14.5 year. The new change will save the brand more than 90 per-
million tons of plastic containers and packaging were gener- cent of its packaging waste. Ben & Jerry’s also introduced its
ated in one year. To tackle the food packaging problem, many Cookie Dough Peace Pop in a fully recyclable paper wrapper.
countries and world organizations have taken some serious Nestlé introduced their ice cream products to renewable
steps forward. The EU’s Plastics Strategy requires all pack- paper packaging in Thailand, which reduced 28 tons of plas-
aging to be recyclable or reusable in an economically viable tic use in 2021. “The package will help our commitment to
way by 2030. It has also introduced plastic taxes on non-re- reducing the amount of plastic we use, helping us as well to
cycled plastic packaging waste. increase its bio-based content and recyclability,” says Jenna
On the other hand, consumers are becoming more aware Evans, Ben & Jerry’s global sustainability manager.
of sustainable packaging as well. They would prefer packag- Recently, more ice cream brands have decided to im-
ing that is beneficial for the environment, whether they are prove their ice cream packaging to make it even more
buying ice cream regularly or spontaneously, according to eco-friendly. Therefore, we see the rise of biodegradable and
Future Market Insights. Choosing more sustainable packaging compostable packaging in the ice cream industry.
also adds value to the brands themselves. A US National When we are talking about the solution to plastic pol-
Retail Federation survey found that consumers would stop lution, we often hear the slogan “reduce, reuse, recycle.” The
buying their preferred products if they lost trust in the brand. reason why recycling has been put at the end is that it is always
These days, consumers would pay special attention to factors challenging to recycle plastic waste. Traditional plastics and
such as sustainability, transparency, and would make sure the some recyclable plastics are usually made through heating
products aligned with brands’ core value when choosing their and treating oil molecules until they turn into polymers. It
favorite brands. According to “Consumers want it all”, the would produce harmful by-products and chemical substanc-
global study released by IBM’s Institute for Business Value es during the breakdown process, and harm the soil and
in conjunction with the National Retail Federation, the world’s water when it ended up in the landfill. Taking the plastic in-
largest retail trade association, sustainability has become an dustry in 2019 as an example, only 9 percent of all plastic
increasingly important influence on purchase decisions and waste was collected for recycling, according to the OECD.
brand preferences since Since 2020. Goal-driven consumers Shockingly, nearly half of the waste is sent to landfills; worst
who choose products/brands based on values such as sus- of all, 23 percent was mismanaged and littered.
tainability make up 44 percent of consumers surveyed; 62 However, the proper disposal of biodegradable plastic
percent of respondents are willing to change their purchasing products automatically reduces the amount of waste. Hilbert
habits to reduce their environmental impact, up from 57 and Blanquett from Current Sustainable Solutions told us
percent two years ago; and half of respondents say they are that PLA is currently the leading biodegradable bioplastic,
willing to pay a surcharge for sustainability, and they can with the others being PBS, PBAT, and PHA’s. Many plastic
accept surcharges of up to 70 percent, which is about twice products use sugarcane bagasse or paper substitutes as al-
the rate of 2020. ternative solutions. However, the two experts also remind
Alex Hilbert and Pierre Blanquett, two industry profes- us that the more strictly defined “compostable’’ is now the
sionals from Current Sustainable Solutions, a Shanghai-based standard rather than “biodegradable”. Since technically
company focusing on sustainable packaging, have shared with everything will biodegrade given a long enough time, the
us the importance of more environmentally friendly food term biodegradable could be misused sometimes in market-
packaging. “Even in the most developed countries, manufac- ing. We have already seen some of the newest biodegradable
turers are being put in a position where they must reconsid- packaging technology adopted in the ice cream industry.
er their value chain. The silver bullet solution seemingly Some packaging giants, such as Stanpac and Huhtamaki,
doesn’t exist in this ever-growing complex world. Neverthe- launched the latest innovative biodegradable ice cream
less, on a positive note, there is a lot of space for real, sus- packaging last year.

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