Developing Sustainable Flexible Packaging in the Food Manufacturing Industry: The Impact of Regulatory Policy
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Abstract
The paper analyses the impact of regulatory policy on the development of sustainable flexible
packaging in the food manufacturing industry. Although sustainable packaging is not new on the
market, its development still poses various challenges for raw material producers, flexible packaging
printers, food manufacturers, and other stakeholders. The study highlights the issues related to the
development of sustainable flexible food packaging, the concept of sustainable packaging, and the
regulatory policies of the European Union and Lithuania on sustainable flexible packaging. An
empirical study was carried out to determine the impact of regulatory policy on the intention of food
producers to develop and invest in sustainable flexible packaging. A qualitative research method - semi-structured interviews - was used. The results of the empirical study show that regulatory policy
has an impact on the food industry's ambition to develop sustainable flexible packaging, although the
effect can be twofold – it can either encourage compliance with the regulatory framework defined by
the legislation or burden companies with excessive requirements. In this research, respondents also
identified other components that affect the development of sustainable flexible packaging in the food
manufacturing industry: consumers and other stakeholders, marketing. The level of environmental
awareness was also highlighted as an important factor in the analysis of the empirical data.
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