THE CONSUMER AWARENESS AND BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS FOOD PACKAGING IN POLAND

Packaging is an inseparable element of all products on the market. High levels of demand for products from packaging industry comes from foodstuffs. With that, the increasing amount of waste from food packaging is one of the biggest threats for the environment, making sustainable consumption an important subject of research. An aware consumer plays the key role in it. The purpose of this article is to present the opinion of Polish respondents regarding the food packaging and the ways of their utilization. As the basic methods of utilization of food packaging, waste segregation in households and the disposal of used packaging into garbage were indicated. Environmental impact of food packaging was pointed out mostly by women, respondents from the middle age group, with low level of education and with the highest declared level of knowledge in the field of food packaging. Respondents with the highest level of knowledge regarding the packaging as well as the youngest respondents showed a greater interest in the methods of packaging utilization. Although consumer awareness towards food packaging utilization has increased in recent years, one should continue raising it.