Dick Searle of the Packaging Federation points out that societies without sophisticated packaging lose half their food before it reaches consumers and that in the UK, waste in supply chains is about 3 percent. In India, it is more than 50 percent. The difference comes later: the British throw out 30 percent of the food they buy - an environment cost in terms of emissions equivalent to a fifth of the cars on their roads. Packagers agree that cardboard, metals and glass all have their good points, but there's nothing quite like plastic. With more than 20 families of polymers to chose from and them sometimes blend, packaging designers and manufacturers have a limitless variety of qualities to play with.