Plastics in food packaging help keep food fresh and safe, and protect against spoilage. Plastics packaging provides a hygienic and safe environment for foods and medicines by protecting against contamination while keeping foods fresh throughout use. 

Lengthening the shelf life of many food products and providing strong, durable, lightweight packaging minimizes waste and loss of food. This effect means lower food prices, increased availability and lower transportation costs.

• According to research at Tampere University in Finland, food wastage is as high as 50 percent in developing countries because of improper or substandard packaging. In Europe, where plastics packaging is used in handling, transport, containment and storage, wastage is approximately 2 to 3 percent.

• According to research conducted by Scarlett, for every 1 percent increase in packaging efficiency, food waste decreases by 1.6 percent.

• Multilayer plastic packaging has enabled high-barrier food and beverage containers that prolong the shelf life of milk, ketchup, beer and other products.

• When fresh produce, meats and other food products are packaged in a controlled atmosphere that maintains the carbon dioxide/oxygen ratio at the optimum level, they last longer. Additional advances in these modified atmosphere packages (MAPs) are made possible through the unique properties of plastic. In the case of cut lettuce, MAPs can extend the shelf life from one day up to seven days.