compostable containers and gloves play an important role
One way to make sense of whether or not investing in compostable take out and service wares is going to be good for your business is to consider the Life Cycle Analysis of the products you want to use. If they aren’t available, remember this: to understand the entire impact of using a meal container you have to account for what the product is made from, how it’s made, how it’s used, and what happens to it when its intended use is expired.
On one hand, there are mission-driven companies like our partners who are doing everything they can to improve our waste streams and provide solutions to plastic infused problems. The food packaging and utensils they make are made from plants and more renewable resources than petroleum plastic. Most likely, these products have a much lower carbon and water footprint to produce than plastic ones.
On the other hand, there are issues with different cities and towns not being able to access commercial composting facilities that accept single use food containers. There are limitations in the system we have created to deal with this issue, and it’s still a relatively new industry in modern terms. In these cases, you’re purchasing a better products to serve your food and drinks in, but the containers will not actually be composted, and they don’t really breakdown in a landfill. Compostables are designed to decompose in a specific type of aerobic environment to turn into plant fuel; that being a compost heap.
Look for this symbol to make sure the items are compostable!
Get started with compostable food service gloves
When it comes to compostable takeout containers, food and beverage packaging and food service ware, there’s not always an obvious solution, except for compostable food prep gloves. Given the alternatives, which are all made from virgin petroleum products, we feel that to alleviate the mountains of PPE that are hitting our landfills we should switch over to compostable gloves which are made from plants.
Our recommendations for plant-based food service products
We are not sponsored by any of these companies, but we are trying to develop relationships that support our mission and allowing these products to be available to anyone who wants to eliminate petroleum in their food packaging. Our members are welcome to order from whomever they choose.
“And World Centric® compostable products are lighter impact alternatives to everyday plastic and Styrofoam disposables. Our products are designed to transform waste into healthy, new soil through composting. They use less energy and water to manufacture, make less pollution than petroleum-based products and are made from renewable resources and waste materials.”
World Centric is a B Certified Corporation. “We donate at least 25% of our profits to global grassroots social and environmental programs and to offset our carbon emissions from raw material to delivery. We strive for fair labor practices in our manufacturing facilities. And we invest in projects that offset all the carbon emitted by the energy we consumed in our operations.”
Vegware products are made from plants using renewable, lower carbon, recycled or reclaimed materials, and are known for their quality and performance. Vegware is committed to waste management and end-of-life solutions for our products. Our unprecedented engagement with the waste sector means Vegware is uniquely placed to help our clients realize their waste ambitions. Recycling infrastructures vary by state, but we are proud to be actively driving change.
EcoProducts is pretty well-known in Colorado. “To simplify things, we've color coded our product lines to help you. GreenStripe® products are renewable and compostable, while BlueStripe™ products are made with recycled content. All GreenStripe® products except Plant Starch Cutlery are compostable, which means they can be returned to the soil to help plants grow. Compostable GreenStripe® products are BPI certified compostable and ASTM compliant and our made with these ingredients: Polylactic Acid (PLA), Bagasse/Sugarcane, & Plant Starch.”
Greenware, Be Green Packaging, EcoPliant, E6PR, Lean Orb, Green Paper Products, Verterra, Good Start Packaging, Sutu Straws, Aardvark Straws, The Paper Straw Factory, One Step Straws, Tyber Straws, Jupiter Flatware, Birchware, Restore Foodware, Leafware, Biopapro, Jungle Culture, and EcoEvergreen Tableware, Zume