Support for stricter plastic regulations and bans in the food industry has eroded due to COVID-19, Dalhousie finds
Halifax: Dalhousie University’s agri-food analysis laboratory is publishing a momentary report on single-use plastics in the food industry. The aim of the survey is to perceive how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Canadian consumers’ attitudes towards single-use plastic food packaging. .
The report, which compares two transnational surveys, generated some attractive results. The first was held in 2019, while the recent maximum was held in the midst of the pandemic. in 2019 to 60% in 2020.
While the vast majority of Canadians continue to recognize the environmental effects of plastics, the 2020 effects show a small but measurable minimum in customer considerations (from 91% to 87%) and customer motivation towards plastics (89% to 85%), with even steeper drops among men.
But COVID-19 has replaced some things. On the one hand, 29% of respondents feel they are buying more plastic-wrapped products for COVID. Women are more likely than men to buy more plastics (34% vs. 25%). of 18-25 year olds and 34% of 26-39 year olds say they consume more plastic packaging. This can be explained by the fact that younger consumers ordered more convenience foods from restaurants and meal kit suppliers than other consumers. more, knowing that eco-friendly packaging can charge more, 50% of respondents are more price conscious since COVID, especially those with low incomes and those receiving CERB.
Food security considerations appear to be a determining factor. As a result, 55% of respondents are more involved in food protection since COVID, i. e. women, urban dwellers and respondents in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada. replaced the landscape of customer feedback on plastic packaging,” said Robert Kitz, a research associate at the lab and lead author of the study. ” Kritz said.
During the pandemic, 40% of respondents considered new protection issues during COVID to be “very important” or “extremely important” in their decisions about purchasing plastic-wrapped products. New protection considerations were higher for respondents who were female, older, low-income and had fewer children. “The industry turned out to have responded well to food protection considerations during the pandemic, however, this is probably helping the plastic situation,” said Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, director of the laboratory.
The push to regulate more has also been affected by the pandemic. In 2019, there was strong support for stricter regulations on plastics (90% agree) and a ban on single-use plastics (70% agree). In 2020, for stricter regulation it was reduced by 11 percentage problems to 79%, and for a ban it was reduced by 12 percentage problems to 58%. Men’s and women’s attitudes have diverged, and women proceeded to prohibitions and regulations while men’s is falling drastically.
“COVID-19 would possibly have made other people worry about our plastic addiction, but the challenge is still with us,” said co-author Dr. Tony Walker, a research associate at the lab. In fact, 52% of respondents agree that any new regulation deserves to wait until COVID is resolved.
The Agri-Food Analysis Laboratory will continue to monitor public opinion on plastics and climate replaces similarly to the food industry.
Methods: A representative survey of Canadian consumers conducted July 10-14, 2020, in partnership with Angus Reid. A total of 977 valid responses were collected. To practice adjustments over time, we compared those recent effects with baseline knowledge gathered through this lab from an earlier survey of 1,014 Canadians conducted between May 13 and 18, 2019.
Margin of error: Each pattern has a margin of error of /- 3. 2 points, 19 out of 20 times. Differences in or between totals are due to rounding.
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