GREEN SERVING OPTIONS How Green Is Green and What Is The Real Cost

Who’s Talking? Robert Hinson BS in Engineering 28 years, Energy Conservation 25 years in Food Service Director of Advanced Cooking Technology Center FS Consulting 15yrs 12 w SC Dept of SN

Consultant with NSFMI wrote the BLT on Equip. Helped on the first Kitchen Design and Purchasing FS Equipment and wrote the guide used to rewrite both Was a team member on the rewrite

Going Green is not as simple as buying a different tray There is no one right answer Green serving is just one part of a bigger Green issue Money is a non-renewable resource

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? Considered Green: BIODEGRADEABLES COMPOSTABLES PAPER WARE WASHING Not considered Green: POLYSTYRENE

Biodegradable Trays or Compostable Trays People often use those terms interchangeably

What Are Compostable/Bio? Compostables are generally made of sugar cane fiber, Bagasse. They can also be the corn based PLA which stands for Polylactic Acid known as a Bio Plastic They are made from renewable sources The material can be processed to make a soil amendment Can be composted or burned (Waste to energy)

Polystyrene: Styrofoam® is ® Proven product, Strong, works Inexpensive NO green house Gases (Waste) Can be 100% Recycled Air can be removed from PS for cheap recycling, 98% air

OK what about Paper? Made from a renewable resource Can be recycled if you don’t get it dirty….. Can be burned It will decompose

What about Hard Trays and Ware Washing? It’s what we know, it works There is very little solid waste from the process (outside of Water) If operating properly trays are sanitary

As Paul Harvey would say- Now “The Rest of the Story”

What we THINK Old fashion hard trays are best*(you also use PS trays) Bio, Compostables, Paper are guilt free garbage Polystyrene is bad

What might not be obvious based on what “people say” Or are willing to write down

FIRST: Reliable Data Example: “The Dangers of PS” Northern Indiana U,Dept of Bio Science Businessbardos.com Future Centre Trust NGO and Req Charity Bart Sims

FIRST: Reliable Data Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Education, LA Facebook- Automotive Ed 30+% of Landfil is PS

Good Data Continued Actual study: RUBBISH! Archeology of Garbage (Rathje and Murphy)

All fast food packaging, PS and Disposable Diapers= 3% People estimated paper at 7%

There is an old saying: “Figures don’t Lie but Liars Figure” The Truth is hard to find

What is Biodegradable? When asked People said: that if disposed of normally the product will decompose to nothing in a year or less. American Chemical Council

FTC said; Material will break down in a reasonable short period of time after customary disposal

So we believe: If we spend the EXTRA MONEY for Compostables we can dispose of them normally and they will disappear in the land fill Or if we truck them to a Commercial Composter they will make soil amendment

What is the Reality Nothing decomposes in a landfill in a reasonable length of time! “In a landfill it could take from 100 to 1000 years (for compostables to break down)” Elizabeth Royte writing for Smithsonian Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash

After 25 years we find recognizable hot dogs and corn dogs in land fills and 50 year old newspapers, you can still turn the pages Debra Lynn Dadd, U of Arizona Phone books from the 50’s taken from cores in NYC can still be read pages still turn

What might be worse, if trays compost, over a long time, it produces harmful green house gases “—pretty much a well-intending earthling’s worst nightmare.” edible Stories MANNHATTAN (The Dirty Truth about Compostable Packaging…)

Compostables have to be processed in a commercial facility Andrew Shakman, CEO Lean Path PLA will not break down in a landfill. PLA will break down at a Commercial Composter in 3 mo. if kept at 140F and fed a diet of digestive microbes Elizabeth Royte

There are only 113 Industrial grade composting facilities in the US. The Environmental Magazine 2008 Composting capacity is not there today but if it was… Is there a market for composted material?

Questions about Commercial Composting being viable for now

Peninsula Compost Company In Wilmington Delaware, 2009 Is to be the newest, largest Compost Facility east of the Miss.

“Peninsula Compost Company has placed an undue burden on the quality of life of residents in the City of Wilmington…particularly those living in close proximity to the facility” Facility closed by state Secretary David Small of the Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC)

What we are expecting from a Compostable or Bio-degradable We are NOT getting. They are not the environmental silver bullet-Not that Simple

If you are getting the compostable trays to a landfill or commercial compost facility… At what cost to your bottom line and the environment?

COST: Real example The director of a large districts said she paid 3 cents for PS and 10 cents for Compostables. THIS COST HER $700,000 a year Alternative: Use PS and lease the equipment to 100% recycle and still save $500,000/year*

Recently we have been hearing about 6 large districts including NYC who have negotiated a paper tray down to $.049 from $.127 so it is a cost wash… iSchoolguide So 4.9-3=1.9 1.9x860,000= $16,340/day $16,340x180=$2,941,200 Not a Wash, better use of $$$$$??

Environmental: No facility can process this much material so… Landfill or burn In any case they have to haul it. Garbage trucks get approx 2 MPG. If you are trucking then you are creating CO2

Gotham Gazette: Waste, 30% is Compostables, is taken to transfer stations there it is trucked to Upstate NY, Penn., Ohio, SC and others! NYC contracts with waste haulers for 40 million miles to haul out of state.

CBS report NYC only sends about 9% to waste to energy regional plants are near capacity So where is the Trash going and what is the environmental impact of this?

At 5.5 to 6.5 MPG that is 6,666,667 gallons of fuel per year. Or 144 million lbs of CO2 per year “—pretty much a well-intending earthling’s worst nightmare.” edible Stories MANNHATTAN (The Dirty Truth about Compostable Packaging…)

Breakdown Of Emissions *

If trays decompose in the Landfill it produces Methane Methane is 25 times More Destructive than CO2 EPA

U.S. Methane (CH4) Per U.S. EPA, landfills are the 3rd largest source of CH4 in the United States.

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FSS / K. Flickner

Bio/Compostables: Negatives Large cost premium If you landfill Creates Green house Gases including Methane Trash burner to electricity* is a 20% efficient process If you trash burn or compost there is trucking using petroleum Creating CO2

Case Study Houston TX HISD had gone to Compostables After investigation they did a 6 school pilot PS with recycling Saved $1-Million cost Cut CO2 by 2 tons in two Mos. 75% weekly waste stream reduction, No Landfill 100% PS recycling,

Paper:Negatives What’s wrong with this Picture?

Remember: Money is a non-renewable resource Guess, one plate and 2 boats?

In the Washington Post Story this school district was replacing a Polystyrene plate with paper costing $.043, the boats are approx. $.01 so the cost of the “tray” is $.063 We send the two boats and dirty trays to the land fill* *Schools have a 50%+ recycle rejection

Paper: Negatives Cont. Huge cost premium (5 comp) Not as effective (opinion) 32%+ of the landfills are paper Paper will break down very slowly. As Paper breaks down it creates Green House Gases

So why did you think about using paper in the first place? Wood is renewable, petroleum is not… Right? SO What if the truth is it takes as much or more petroleum to make paper than Polystyrene?

Paper vs. PS Foam Cup Paper Cup PS Foam Cup

Raw Materials (per cup) wood 33 g 0

petroleum 4.1 g 3.2 g Utilities (per metric ton)

steam 10,000 kg 5,000 kg electric 980 kWh 150 kWh

cooling water 50 m3 154 m3 Process Water (per metric ton)

suspended solids 50 kg trace BOD 40 kg 0.07 kg

chlorinate hydrocarbons 6 kg 0 metal salts 10 kg 20 kg

Air Emissions (per metric ton) chlorine 0.5 kg 0

chlorine dioxide 0.2 kg 0 reduced sulfides 2.0 kg 0

Recycle Potential post-consumer very low High*

Ultimate Disposal waste-to-energy 20 MJ/kg 40 MJ/kg mass to landfill 10.1 kg 1.5 kg biodegradable not land filled no

- Science Magazine, 2001 FSS / K. Flickner

Polystyrene: Negatives Made from a non renewable resource, how be it a byproduct Unless recycled it will take a very long time to decompose It has trace toxins in the basic material

Lastly, Hard Tray with Warewashing Cheap right? SNA study Not a single use there are food borne issues.

That can’t be! didn’t we do a study that said Warewashing cheaper than Single use? 2009

Remove Dishwashing from Polystyrene Only

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What about Warewashing Environmental impact?

Remove the Detergent Mfg and Dishwasher impact

SO? Simple Right? We all agree Polystyrene is the cheapest option. Environment? Can this be true?

Ware Washing is clearly Significantly More $$$ Significantly Less EF Paper is Significantly more $ Significantly Less EF* Uses more Petroleum than PS

Compostables: Significantly more $$ Environmentally: Burn it? 20% efficient Energy Production is the Number one producer of green house gases…

Compostables: cont.

Put in a Landfill won’t decompose and if it did then it would produce GHG

Compostables: Cont. You Really have to send to a Commercial Composter Where are they and what will it cost (enviro) This is not the clear winner we have heard about, there are real problems

Consider: On site volume reduction of PS and recycling option. Yields the lowest operating cost and removes the PS from the waste stream and recovers the material.

Bigger Green Issue Food waste is a big issue Organic matter creates methane as it decomposes-Methane is 25 times as destructive as CO2…. California, Wash state is already moving toward no food in waste stream and no Commercial garbage disposals

Webinar Foodservice Tech Ctr http://www.fishnick.com/education/webinars/zerowaste/ Zero Waste

Q & A

Robert Hinson Foodservice Sustainability Solutions rhinson4@bellsouth.net rhinson4@mac.com 704-575-6120