Scope of the problem

Introduction- Brunei situation

Food packaging is widely used for storing food temporarily and permanently to protect
the food from getting contaminated. There are various types of food packaging that have
been used worldwide, namely plastics, polystyrene, paper, cardboard, cling wrap,
aluminium foil, glass, etc. As for Brunei, Bruneians use plastic and polystyrene food
packaging to a high extent in various events. The common plastics used are Polyethylene
Terephthalate (PET) and Polypropylene (PP), which is used for microwave heating and
also Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and Polyethylene (PE) in cling wrap. The high usage of
these food packaging is proven by the findings of the survey that have been conducted by
the group which are described in the later part of the report.

Before these food packaging were introduced, Bruneians used natural sources for food
packaging such as banana leaves, coconut leaves and bamboo, as well as “ringkat” for
taking-away food, which is popularly known as “tapau” among the locals. Previously,
they also used paper products such as old newspaper to package food. In those years,
plastic and polystyrene do exist but were not widely used because they were considered
as “luxurious” items and the plastic available could not “facilitate” the food packaging.

Literature review
However, in the recent years plastic and polystyrene are widely available due to the
advancement of technology to create better or safer food packaging which is approved by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These are manufactured to meet the public
demands for better food packaging and this has become a trend as more and more buy
and use them in food packaging because of their convenience.

Although the usage of plastic and polystyrene food packaging has become a trend, there
are both positive and negative views about it. Some people may see them as waste and
non-sustainable products, while others may see them as tools for packaging with no
adverse effects. Surely, when looking at the economic side of it, the businessmen, the
entrepreneurs and others involved directly to it, will gain lot of profit because they are
receiving uncountable profits from consumers who buy and use the products. However,
in contrast, people and the environment are the ones who “lose” because indirectly, these
products can create health problems and damage to the environment, in terms of the
migration of styrene molecule from food container to food and the requirement of more
landfills because these plastic containers decompose at a very slow rate. Due to cheap
prices of plastic and polystyrene for food packaging, their convenience and easy
accessibility, people often buy and use these products. The problems that plastic and
polystyrene food packaging can cause are described in the following paragraphs.

The use of food packagings such as plastics and polystyrene had concerned the public,
leading to the enforcement of a ban on its usage in some places. For example, in city of
Berkeley and California, the council there had imposed bans on the usage of polystyrene
as food packagings in restaurants because it has been found that it involves
Chloroflurocarbon (CFC) in order to produce polystyrene. Furthermore, the raw product
used to produce plastic and polystyrene is from the by-product of oil which is “a non
sustainable, heavily polluting and disappearing commodity” (Ecologycenter homepage,
unknown). This results in the depletion of natural resources which might in effect,
contribute to economic problems. The council in the Oakland city has approved a ban on
polystyrene food packaging due to its complaints from citizens and also, it took a longer
time to decompose.

Due to the extremely slow decomposition rate of plastics and polystyrene, there is a need
for more landfills to accommodate these wastes. Polystyrene took up more space than
paper and plastic waste in landfills. Since both plastics and polystyrene took longer time
to degrade, as more and more of these waste are being dumped to the landfills, the
landfills would reach its maximum capacity to accommodate them, thus new landfills are
needed.
Hunt (2003) discovered that there was unusual genetic defects in the eggs of lab mice,
which was due to the hard plastic cages of the mice (FoodProductionDaily homepage,
2003). The chemical involved in the genetic defects is called Bisphenol A, which is
widely found in the plastic food containers. Bisphenol A is suspected to cause a higher
incidents of miscarriage or conditions such as Down Syndrome.

From a report by Hunter (1993), the following dangers of using plastic in food packaging
are found: Some plasticizers have been found to migrate from the plastic into food. One
is DEHA [di(ethylhexyl)adepate], commonly used as a plasticizer in polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) film wrap, which is popular for covering stored and microwaved food. DEHA is a
suspected carcinogen. The DEHA migration level was found to increase in proportion to
the time that the food was in contact with the PVC wrap and with the rise in cooking
temperature. The highest migration levels were found when the plastic film was in direct
contact with food with a high fat content on its surface. Migration levels were low when
there was little or no direct contact between the food and the wrap.

Styrene molecule in the polystyrene can also migrate into the food. Styrene is known to
be carcinogenic. The migration levels of styrene into food depends on the fat content of
the food. The higher the fat content, the higher the migration level.

Plastics and polystyrene can be recycled, but only in small amount. Only non-food
packaging polystyrene are collected for recycling. However, food packaging that are
made of polystyrene are not recycled because it is contaminated due to food. If food
packaging is recycled, then it would require more energy and involve many complex
chemical processses. In U.K., publication by e-digest of environmental statistic showed
that the amount of plastics being recycled is lower compared to other packaging materials
(Waste Online UK, 2001).

Food Packaging in Brunei

All the mentioned problems found from literature can be related to Brunei current
situation. The responses from this survey study show this:
The survey was conducted on Tuesday, 5th September 2006 among 91 people; 30 males
and 61 females of age ranging below 20 to above 40 years old. The survey was conducted
by means of a questionnaire (Refer to Appendix One).

The main significant findings are as follows.

1. Usage of food packaging
-The top three food packaging used in the products sold are normal plastic containers,
followed by polystyrene and microwaveable container.

-62% selected high usage of plastic and polystyrene in weddings. This was followed by
parties and family gatherings, each selected by 43%. As for the extent of usage of paper
and cardboard as food packaging in events in Brunei, 47% chose low usage for these to
be used during meal time and buying fruits and vegetables. This was followed by family
gatherings, selected by 42%.

-69% of people agree that plastic and polystyrene are good for packaging, compared to
only 58% agree that paper and cardboard are good for packaging. Whereas only 30%
disagree that plastic and polystyrene are good for packaging and 37% disagree that paper
and cardboard are good. People who agree that plastic and polystyrene are good for
packaging chose convenient and cheap. People who agree that paper and cardboard are
good for packaging chose cheap and recyclable.

2. Disposal of food packaging

37% chose to throw plastic packaging that they have obtained from shops and 73% chose
to throw polystyrene into bin, while 81% also chose to throw cling wrap into bin.

3. Awareness of adverse effects of plastic and polystyrene food packaging

The most popular choice of adverse consequence of using plastics and polystyrene for
food packaging was that they cannot be destroyed, selected by 51%, followed by
depletion of natural resources, selected by 45%, and need more space for dumping,
selected by 41%. However, there is slight minority (14%) who do not know that the
adverse consequences are cancer effects of DEHA and styrene, and the genetic effect of
bisphenol A that could leach from the food packaging, and 19% are uncertain of it.

4. Alternatives for food packaging

91% are willing to use other alternatives for food packaging if they were informed with
the adverse consequences. 6% are not willing to and only 3% do not bother to protect the
environment for sustainability.

Conclusion
Therefore, based on the main findings, we can conclude that the plastics, polystyrene and
cling wrap are most often used to a high extent in any event in Brunei. Polystyrene is
most often thrown into bin after they have been used once. Unlike plastics (polyethylene,
PET, and Polypropylene, PP, for microwave heating), most people would keep it and
reuse it, and probably would be thrown away after re-using many times. Due to plastics
and polystyrene being convenient to be used, relatively cheaper, convinced most people
to buy and use them for food packaging. Compared to paper and cardboard, they are not
that convenient to use because only dry food can be packaged in such way. The limited
advantage of paper and cardboard do not attract people from buying them, though we
cannot deny paper and cardboard are preferably to be used because of its ability to be
recycled.