Abstract
After revolutionizing everyday life in all sectors, including food packaging, providential plastic has turned into a time bomb, with harmful long-term effects of plastic waste. By setting up a research strategy simultaneously focusing on resources, usage and post-usage aspects of alternative packaging materials and technologies, advances are expected in terms of materials respectful of circular economy principles. In this context, biocomposite materials able to return to the soil through biodegradation and those constituents are all stemming from agricultural residues appear as interesting alternatives. As each food category presents specific needs, current demands for research deal with the development of the just necessary “custom-made” food packaging that offers a compromise between product quality, minimal environmental impact and maximum safety. To guide users in their choice of sustainable packaging, taking into account their constraints and expectations, decision-support tools are thus required. This chapter presents the current knowledge regarding (i) modeling and decision-support tools to address the multi-criteria and multi-actor aspects of the issue, (ii) the European scale development of eco-efficient composite materials derived from unrecycled agri-food residues, (iii) the stringent scrutiny that needs to be placed on the safety of these materials in contact, and finally (iv) clarification of their end-of-life options.