Sustainable food packaging system: Status of regulatory initiatives and issues on plastic use in Tunisia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania African countries

Background: Sustainable food packaging is not only an environmental necessity, but also a crucial part of the broader strategy to reduce food waste and promote sustainable development in Africa, as in all countries around the world. Scope and approach: The review gives an overview of the current landscape of food packaging systems in Africa, with a specific focus on Tunisia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, countries actively involved in sustainable food packaging researches under the EU Horizon2020 FoodLAND project. The analysis begins with a description of the most used packaging materials and highlights the environmental and health issues of fossil-based plastics. National policies aimed at reducing plastic use and pollution are then examined. Finally, some relevant studies on bio-based alternatives using local resources are reviewed. Key findings and conclusions: The development of sustainable food packaging in Africa faces major challenges, but also holds a great potential. The continent is still largely reliant on traditional (e.g. plant leaves) and conventional (e.g. fossil-based plastics) materials. The former offer limited food protection, while the latter contribute to environmental pollution. Some policy/regulatory initiatives have been introduced to reduce plastic use, their effect is often limited due to several challenges. The reviewed studies demonstrate the interest of the African scientific communities on sustainable packaging solutions, however most of them remain at lab-scale and need validation. Customised approaches that consider the different socio-economic and cultural realities of African countries can help overcome current limitations of local packaging system, especially through collaboration between academia, industry and policy makers.