Natural leaf-type as food packaging material for traditional food in Nigeria: sustainability aspects and theoretical circular economy solutions

Global call for healthy and sustainable food production and consumption has been loud, and the majority of these calls center on ensuring food security through sustainable agriculture. The other parts of the food supply chain such as consumption, packaging, recycling, and food waste management seem to be overlooked especially by developing nations of the world where attention is mainly placed on production. But in the broad sense, public health and environmental quality could be adversely impacted by neglect, mismanagement, or loophole on any of these food management systems. Hence, the current work studies the health and environmental impacts of local food packaging materials, adopting Nigeria as a proxy for the developing world. A review was first conducted to appraise the sustainability aspects of achieving and using natural leaves as a packaging material for traditional foods in Nigeria. The result of the review rightly shows that leaf-type packaging material has several apparent health and environmental advantages for food packaging. In view of this, the current work proposes a theoretical circular economy model that would ensure the constant and sustainable availability of these local packaging materials, especially in the urban centers.