Disposable Food Packaging - Environmental Concerns

Environmental Concerns

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, paper and plastic foodservice packaging discarded in the country’s municipal solid waste stream accounted 1.3 percent in 2007 (by weight) of municipal solid waste. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also says that an often-cited waste prevention measure is the use of washable plates, cups, napkins … instead of the disposables variety. (This will reduce solid waste but will have other environmental effects, such as increased water and energy use.)

Litter composition studies conducted in many states across the country have found that foodservice packaging items make up 20 to 22 percent of our nation’s litter stream.

Most foodservice packaging can be recycled, but isn’t for a variety of reasons. According to the Foodservice Packaging Institute the biggest barriers to recycling foodservice packaging items are public health and economics.

Once used, foodservice packaging is considered contaminated, and thus much of it is unfit for recycling, unless it is cleaned and sorted. Some places have successfully found ways to recycle such packaging including, but they've met with limited success.

Collection costs, the value of scrap material, and increased energy expenditures create an additional economic barrier to recycling foodservice packaging. While recycling foodservice packaging is difficult, recycled materials are being used in some foodservice packaging.