Recycling of Food Packaging and Sustainability: The Consumer's Role

The main purpose of this paper is to raise awareness among consumers and make them conscious of the important role they play in the process of waste management. It is of vital importance to move towards a society in which consumers are the first link in the recycling chain.   The recycling of these food packaging is strongly associated with environmental sustainability. The treatment of containers requires a refinement of the consciousness and the involvement of all consumers. For this reason, an organization such us “Unión de Consumidores” must commit itself to this cause day-today. This paper first identifies which action areas most concern us and analyses working programmers about food in different fields such us nutritional education, agricultural policies, the defense of biodiversity, public health and economy in general.   Then, themes such as the Spanish legislative framework for waste management and treatment, the costs of integrated waste management systems or the open debate of whether or not we should embark upon a deposit-return system as is done in Germany are discussed.   Finally, we attempt to identify the actions that should be carried out by consumers according to their social responsibilities. There, consumers are strongly encouraged to get involved in the treatment of food packaging in order to reach the goals of environmental sustainability.