🧠How to apply the results of the tool?

Safe and environmentally sound purchasing decisions for foodware and packaging become the norm when (1) their impacts on human health and the environment are transparent and easy to assess, and (2) when choices that reduce these impacts are more incentivized. But the lack of technical expertise, transparency, and/or time in the procurement of foodware and packaging currently makes sound decision-making difficult. Therefore, the UP Scorecard makes responsible packaging decisions easy and intuitive to help make the right product choices for procurement and beyond.

You are a packaging purchaser or sustainability professional in the food service industry

The UP Scorecard provides you with a holistic assessment of human health and environmental impacts of commonly used foodware and food packaging, and it allows you to compare the performance of your packaging with alternative options. To improve scores, you can either (further) customize a product to improve its human health and environmental performance or you can choose to switch to a better-performing alternative within the same use case. This can help you determine where and how you have the most leverage in procurement to make responsible packaging choices.

You are an environmental and/or human health advocate

The UP Scorecard provides you with a standardized way to explore the positive and negative effects of different measures along the value chain of foodware and food packaging products on human health and the environment. This can help you analyze effects in different dimensions to find trade-offs or opportunities to tackle current packaging challenges.

You are a policy maker

The UP Scorecard provides a transparent and science-based methodology for the more holistic assessment of different packaging sustainability aspects (including chemical safety, which is often overlooked). The method, or individual aspects of it, can provide you with helpful science-based input, offer a basis for discussion, or give an example of product applications to support the development of better foodware and packaging regulations.

You are an interested consumer

The UP Scorecard provides you with an easy-to-use assessment of the most commonly used foodware and packaging options, showing you the potential pros and cons of each option to better protect your health and the environment. You can use the tool as a guide to help in situations where you can choose between different packaging options.

You are a foodware or food packaging producer

The UP Scorecard provides you with a quick overview of current foodware and packaging-related sustainability metrics beyond just climate change that are important to consider when designing your products. You can use the tool to understand the current sustainability challenges of packaging on the market and to identify needed (new) packaging solutions. In general, through utilizing the UP scorecard, users like you can more easily compare the various materials and material combinations for each use case (cup, bottle, container, etc.) and each impact area (chemicals, climate, sourcing, etc.) to help you make better and smarter packaging design decisions that benefit human health and the environment.