Packaging is essential to maintaining and protecting the quality of the cheese product as well as attracting the eye of consumers. The Center for Dairy Research is investigating methods to produce bioplastics from dairy waste and looking into producing pure lactic acid, a renewable and biodegradable bioplastic, from the biofermentation of cheese whey.
When it comes to their sustainability efforts, dairy processors would be wise to count product packaging as a critical element. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, containers and packaging make up a major portion of the United States’ municipal solid waste, amounting to 82.2 million tons in 2018 alone (the latest year for which data are available).