When Maryland passed legislation banning styrofoam food packaging, Ryan James was prepared. He swapped foam takeout containers for a compostable, biodegradable sugarcane-based alternative at his Ocean City Tex-Mex restaurant and food truck.
Maryland became the first state to enact a ban that prohibits restaurants, cafes, food trucks and supermarkets from packaging foods in foam containers. The ban went into effect July 1, 2020. Several cities from New York and Seattle to Freeport, Maine, and Encinitas, California, have passed similar legislation; other bans on single-use plastics, including straws, have gone into effect.
Polystyrene foam — often referred to by its trademarked name, Styrofoam — is made from toxic ingredients such as synthetic resins, polyesters and plastics; the World Health Organization classified it as a probable carcinogen. The same container used for carryout takes more than a million years to decompose in the landfill where is shares space with other single-use plastics such as straws, cups and disposable utensils.
“When people hear about plastic trash building up, they want to do something,” says David Tyler PhD, a chemistry professor at the University of Oregon. “These bans are aimed at keeping plastics, which don’t degrade well, out of the environment.”
Seeking Sustainable Solutions
With bans often covering the use of both puffed foam and polystyrene #6 (usually in the form of the oft-seen black plastic container with clear lids), legislation has forced restaurants to find alternative takeout containers. Although a broad range of options exist, products made from materials such as recycled paper, sugarcane and mushrooms are much more expensive than foam containers.
James spends an average of six cents more per container, which translated to an estimated $1,800 between June and December 2018. With razor thin margins in the kitchen, James added a surcharge of six cents to each takeout order to help offset the costs. Despite listing the fee on the menus, the register and the receipts, no one has complained about the additional charge for an alternative takeout container.
“People see the charge and think, ‘It’s six cents but who cares because it’s for the environment,’” James says.
In California, Johan Engman opted for to-go containers made from biodegradable materials and reusable metal straws instead of plastic for customers dining in all nine locations of Breakfast Republic.
The products do cost more and the restaurant absorbs the higher fees as part of the cost of doing business because Engman believes making the switch pays dividends to the environment.
...it does add to the bottom line but I think it's worth every penny…I want to have a conscience and run a restaurant that is at least trying to make a move in the right direction.
JOHAN ENGMAN
Owner, Rise & Shine Restaurant Group
Customers and Restaurants Both Have a Role to Play in Eradicating Single-use Plastics
For James, eschewing single-use plastics was a priority. He testified before Maryland state government leaders in support of the ban because he believes, without legislation, too few restaurant owners would make the move away from Styrofoam and other single-use plastics.
“There is a lack of information by the restaurant owners…that there are cost-effective alternative products as well as cost recuperation strategies easily available to them,” he says. [These bills] make sure that we can keep going for another day and they help the earth live longer.
Engman, who admits to being an avid user of services like Uber Eats and Postmates, acknowledges that our reliance on such on-demand services takes a significant toll on the environment. He believes that businesses like his switching to biodegradable or compostable single-use items is not going to solve the problem on its own. Customers, he says, need to be educated about what to do with their takeout items to ensure they don’t end up in the landfill.
“First, we have to get people used to the idea of [caring about single-use plastic waste] and using alternate products [in restaurants] and then step two is taking it to the next level and properly disposing of the items,” Engman says. “My next move is to educate our customers on how to do that but the whole thing has to start with being educated about the issues and bans help with that. We need to make people aware of what products are being used and get them excited about supporting change or the rest won’t matter.”
Are you ready to make the change?