Trend story

*WSU will save money on waste disposal by implementing new compostable materials in Dining Services, a trend that has been spreading through universities across the state of Washington.


Compostable food packaging will save WSU big bucks

Dining Services at WSU recently decided to partner with Cedar Grove Packaging/Compostaware -- providing students, faculty and staff with compostable dinnerware and food containers that can easily go from the dining table to the WSU compost facility.

Gary Henrich, a food service broker from Kenco Sales Inc. who helped WSU in their partnership with Cedar Grove Packaging, said there is a big cost associated with hauling garbage out of WSU. Having waste thrown into garbage cans and then being hauled away, he said, is really a huge cost for the university. The cost of hauling waste in areas in Seattle, like at the University of Washington, is around $150 a ton.

“It might cost a little more for the product, but you end up saving it because you don’t have to pay a garbage bill,” Henrich said.

Across the state of Washington, many universities have turned to using Cedar Grove approved packaging in their dining areas. Henrich said both the University of Washington and the University of Puget Sound implemented the use of products marked by Cedar Grove as compostable about 18 months ago and both seem to be having success.

Cedar Grove Packaging does not make or sell compostable products. Henrich said the company marks more than 1,000 different products with a signature brown stripe as being compostable. Standards for compostable material differ greatly from country to country. In the U.S., Henrich said material is considered compostable if it is 60 percent composted in 180 days. However, in Europe material is considered compostable if it is 90 percent composted in 90 days.

“With the U.S. standard, what happens to that other 40 percent that isn’t composted?” Henrich asked. “It’s what blows around in your parking lot.”

Henrich said Cedar Grove is aiming to move more towards the European standard of what is considered compostable. He said Cedar Grove would like to see products that can compost 100 percent in 45 days.

Jan Persha from Food Services of America said another benefit of the compostable products marked by Cedar Grove is that they are manufactured in the U.S. She said a lot of the other compostable products that are sold nationally are manufactured overseas.

“All these items (from Cedar Grove) are compostable and since the campus (WSU) has its own composting facility, it’s a perfect match,” Persha said.

Shawn Hoch, associate director of culinary operations and executive chef at the WSU Dining Centers, said the university has been using compostable dishware for 10 years and compostable silverware and cups for the past three years. He said prices of Compostaware with the Cedar Grove logo and compostable materials in general have fallen drastically in the last 18 months, and he expects Cedar Grove to continue to reduce their prices as volume continues to increase.

“Many large U.S. manufactures are finally jumping on the bandwagon, which will ultimately create more competition and drive down prices,” Hoch said.

Some well-known manufactures that use the Cedar Grove logo include Chinet, Reynolds and Fabrickell.

Hoch said the last time the university did a side-by-side comparison of estimated usage based off of last year, the savings with Cedar Grove Packaging was about $4,000. He said though there have been product changes since that comparison, overall almost every item evaluated was cheaper with Compostaware.

Most products do not drive prices up. Henrich said products such as Chinet plates with the Cedar Grove logo are really the same as regular Chinet plates because they are already considered compostable, so there is no price difference. He said anything made with corn resin, however, costs about 30 percent more than a product made with regular petroleum resin.

Hoch said that he is seeing sustainability within the food industry continue to grow. He said he is seeing more manufactures taking notice and that every year he sees dozens of food companies and suppliers with new “green” products.

“As for WSU compostable WSU dining, the recycling center has been doing it for years, are just getting better at it,” Hoch said. “We are diverting waste from landfills, which reduces cost and by composting we are helping to regenerate soil by adding nutrient-rich compost. Most of all we are being leaders in the food service industry.”


SOURCE INFORMATION
Shawn Hoch-
Phone: 509-335-8488
E-mail: smhoch@wsu.edu

Jan Persha-
Phone: 509-483-7704
E-mail: jan_persha@fsafood.com

Gary Henrich-
Phone: 425-902-1822
E-mail: Ghenrich@teamkenco.com