FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN: THE ASPECTS OF PACKAGING LIFE CYCLE

The packaging of goods is an integral component of food supply chains. It is regarded that three quarters of goods produced in the world require some kind of packaging, while 90% of the customers of packaging producers represent the food supply chain. Affected by the global purchases and shipping, the role of packaging in the supply chain increases; for this reason, it has to be perceived as a cost reducer rather than a profit increases. Given the diverse roles, functions and forms of packaging, it is difficult to provide a precise definition of packaging; yet, packaging may be classified by kind and level.The sustainability aspect of packaging, which is associated with the cost of collecting and recycling or disposal and environmental protection-related taxes, too, plays an increasing role. The sustainability aspect of packaging concerning the food supply chain is incorporated in legal acts. However, from the perspective of entrepreneurship, the need to rationally and sustainably use the packaging involved in the food supply chain is also determined by the length of life cycle of packaging. Accordingly, an increasing focus is placed on possibilities to optimise the use of reusable packaging and the costs related to it. The research aim is to examine the life cycle of the packaging involved in the food supply chain in order to the determine the need for the use of reusable packaging. The research tasks are as follows: to summarise the kinds, purposes and levels of packaging involved in the food supply chain; to identify the critical points, which incorporate the sustainability aspect, in the life cycle of packaging; and to determine the possibilities of use of reusable packaging. Research methods: the logical and constructive methods, the graphic method, the monographic method, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction and content analysis.