Consumer Perception and Prospects of Cali’s Food Industries on the Use of Bioplastics in Their Packaging

Abstract

Massive food market trends and food safety demands have favored the use of plastic packaging from fossil sources generating critical environmental, social, and economic impacts. Bioplastics are presented as a more sustainable alternative to replace single-use plastics. This research analyzes consumers’ perceptions and industrialists regarding the use of bioplastics for the packaging of food for mass consumption in the northern region of the department of Cauca and southern Valle del Cauca, in Colombia. It uses a mixed methodology with qualitative and quantitative information, including fieldwork observation of packaging in the market, consumer surveys in the region characterized by gender, socioeconomic stratum and age, and interviews with executives from food industries and plastics companies. The final disposition of the bioplastics has a structure of separation in the source and uses derivatives similar to petroleum, its use adds a new material that with the current structure would be added to close its cycle in sanitary landfills and water sources, without generating favorable impacts. The advantages of bioplastics are their compostability and their origin from renewable sources.