A number of food and beverage companies have started to minimize packaging or switch to biodegradable material, reflecting growing social awareness about the environment, industry officials said Monday.

Bon IF reduced its use of synthetic resin in packaging boxed lunches by more than 30 percent, replacing them with biodegradable containers that have been certified by the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute.  

Jardin, a coffee shop chain, was the first in the country to start using paper-made CartoCans as an alternative to tin cans for its tea lattes. CartoCans are said to be lighter than tin cans and create less carbon dioxide.

Orion, a leading snacks maker, is carrying out a special project to reduce standard packing and ink to prevent waste of resources and for environmental protection. Company officials said they have been voluntarily removing excessive packaging on 20 or so products since 2014.

Restaurant chain One And One said it's using eco-friendly double-layered containers to keep its food warm.

"We are keeping in step with value consumption by reducing the use of disposable products and adopting eco packaging," an industry official said. (Yonhap)