COMMENTARY
Baltimore, Maryland, is the latest large United States metropolitan area to entertain a city-wide ban on polystyrene foodservice products, specifically taking aim at the styrofoam takeout food and drink containers used by local restaurants and dining establishments. Restaurants found in violation of the city’s styrofoam ban could face up to $1,000 in fines.
Baltimore joins a growing list of cities and states banning polystyrene foam foodservice products from use in their cities.
“Already in Massachusetts, 32 towns and cities have passed bag bans or fees,” wrote Ben Adler for Grist. “So have at least 88 localities in California, including the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco, plus cities and towns in more than a dozen other states and more than a dozen other countries.”
Large foodservice franchises with a history of using styrofoam products have also recently taken the initiative to phase out these items from their operations. In 2013, Jamba Juice replaced its insulated styrofoam cups with an eco-friendly alternative, and earlier this year Dunkin’ Donuts pledged to end its use of styrofoam coffee cups by 2020.
What is polystyrene foam?
Best known by the stage name “Styrofoam”, a brand name copyrighted by Dow Chemical, Polystyrene is a non-biodegradable, synthetic, hard plastic used to make many household items including plastic car parts, packaging material, house insulation, hair dryers, and more.
In restaurants, the most common types of polystyrene you’ll find are EPS [expanded polystyrene] and XPS [extruded polystyrene], the plastic that common takeout containers, disposable coffee cups, single-use utensils and dinnerware are made of.
Any product comprised of polystyrene foam will be marked with this symbol:
What’s the big deal with using styrofoam products?
While it may be waterproof and durable, two “must-haves” in the takeout cutlery job description, styrofoam products are very difficult and costly to recycle— if recycled at all.
“Polystyrene plastic foam is one of the biggest sources of marine litter and costs the state and local governments millions of dollars each year to collect it from beaches, road sides, and storm drains,” wrote Mariel Garza in a recent opinion piece in The Los Angeles Times about her city’s own polystyrene ban bill.
Since styrofoam is not biodegradable — meaning the styrofoam is not able to be broken down or consumed by living organisms like bacteria or fungi — when it becomes trash, products made of polystyrene foam can’t decay naturally so they just sit “as is” and leak methane into the atmosphere over time. Often times, styrofoam products — like insulated coffee cups or takeout containers — will break down into small pieces and fragments that pollute our land and waterways. Fish and land animals will mistakenly eat these small bits and pieces of styrofoam and fall ill or die as a result.
In Baltimore’s case, polystyrene dinnerware like foam coffee cups, soda cups, and foam takeout containers became litter that caused both the Inner Harbor and greater Chesapeake Bay ecosystem grave harm.
On Feb. 28, 2018, the Baltimore City council voted unanimously to give Bill 017-0117 preliminary approval, putting the city one step closer to banning polystyrene foam takeout containers, utensils, and dinnerware at Baltimore restaurants.
“We look at all the litter in our waterways. It’s not biodegradable. It’s not actually being recycled,” said Councilman John Bullock, the lead sponsor of Bill 17-0117. “For the most part, it’s ending up in landfills or being incinerated. In water, it breaks apart into small pieces, which makes it very difficult to clear up the water and dangerous for wildlife.”
In a similar vein, the international grassroots push to ban plastic stirring straws in bars and coffee shops is currently picking up steam: The EU intends to ban single-use plastic products, like plastic straws and stirring straws by 2030.
Did you know, in the United States, we use 500 million plastic straws a day? By that math, the average American uses 1.6 straws a day, totaling approximately 38,000 over 60 years times.
“500 million straws could fill over 127 school buses each day, or more than 46,400 school buses every year” muses the team at EcoCycle.org.
Like with the polystyrene foam bans, grassroots organizations like Strawless Ocean are orchestrating initiatives to educate the masses about the impact plastic disposable straws have on our environment.
How will the styrofoam ban affect restaurants?
Naturally, the foodservice industry — specifically businesses with a significant take-out/delivery presence— stands to be the group most drastically impacted by the national grassroots movement to ban single-use polystyrene products.
Not sure if your city or state has a polystyrene plastic foam (styrofoam) ban? Groundswell.org has the most up to date list of all cities, counties, and states with a polystyrene foam ban; they update it regularly with new names. From our research, the majority of cities and states taking part in the ban reserve the right to fine violators up to $1,000.
If your city or state is considering or has enacted a ban on styrofoam cups, takeout containers, and other dinnerware items, there are a variety of sustainable substitutes you can purchase for your business.
About 45 minutes outside Baltimore is the town of Takoma Park, Maryland. In 2014, it enthusiastically passed an initiative introduced by the Young Activists Club at Piney Elementary School seeking to ban polystyrene foodservice products.
Understanding and anticipating the impact on local businesses, Takoma Park researched and rolled out a resource section for restaurant decision makers filled with sustainable alternatives they can purchase at comparable rates to the polystyrene versions.
They break down the cost difference you can expect with sustainable alternative products, and overall what the change is going to cost your restaurant. This chart, created by the Takoma Park Public Works, lists compostable and recyclable units you can purchase at a wholesale shopping center like Costco, or through your restaurant’s distributor.
If your supplier for disposable cutlery and dinnerware does not have cost-effective, sustainable alternatives, shop around. Webstaurant Store and Tundra Restaurant Supply are two restaurant supply wholesalers who sell a variety of options in the recyclable, disposable dinnerware and cutlery category.
Coordinating your restaurant’s switch from styrofoam-based disposable products to sustainable alternatives may be a headache at first, but the benefits will quickly add up in dividends for the environment and your business’ bottom line.
In a 2015 study conducted by The Nielsen Company that analyzed the relationship between consumer behavior and social/environmental sustainability, they found that 75 percent of the global millennial population is willing to pay more for sustainable products, and 66 percent of the global millennial population are willing to pay more to support brands “committed to a positive social and environmental impact.”
A comparable study done in 2015 by Cone Communications found that millennials would be 87 percent more loyal to a company that supports social or environmental causes.
Use your local styrofoam ban to your advantage by marketing your restaurant’s environmentally conscious operations to existing and prospective customers alike. For example, you could run a social media campaign in time for April’s Earth Day that showcases how many pounds of plastic you’ve saved from ending up in local landfills and waterways by making the switch to sustainable alternatives.
If your business openly supports or consistently donates to a specific cause, highlight your efforts across all channels possible.
Zambrero, a misson-driven fast casual franchise with over 170 locations in Australia, aims to end world hunger by donating 1 billion meals by 2025; for every burrito or bowl purchased at one of its locations, the chain donates one meal to an underserved community in need. On its website and in each location, including two brand new sites in New England, it keeps a running meal ticker that shows how thos efforts thus far have put a dent in eradicating world hunger.
Source
Your restaurant also might be helping to save the environment without you even knowing it.This past year, the Toast POS restaurant community saved 2,500 trees by adopting the use of digital receipts for customers and KDS screens in their kitchens. Technology not only helps restaurants streamline operational processes, but it also allows these same restaurants to cut down on their paper costs and waste.
Via 313 in Austin, Texas, for example, stopped using paper tickets in the kitchen and started allowing guests to opt in for digital receipts.
“For the most part, people prefer to use the handhelds to cash out at the table and get a digital receipt. We’re also pretty much paperless in the kitchen,” said Brandon Hunt, co-owner of Via 313. “The cost of paper is insane. At almost $50-60 a case, we were going through about a case a week, so it was a no-brainer for us to use kitchen display screens in the kitchen and go paperless in the front of the house as well.”
If you’re interested in expanding your restaurant’s socially conscious footprint but don’t know where to begin, reflect on the causes that matter to you or have the greatest impact on your community.
Try testing the waters with an events, promotion, or social media campaign. For example, one night a month, tell guests that a portion of their bill will be donated to a local charity. You can also invite local non-profits representatives to your restaurant to speak with customers about their cause. Then, donate a portion of your profits that day to their organization.
Another idea is to start a “charity of the month” program where you donate a portion of your monthly sales to your selected charity. Ask your staff to suggest new charities so that your business can support a wide range of causes, and your staff feels personally connected to the program.
Cover photo: iStock
Topics: Sustainability
Companies: Toast, Inc.
Amanda McNamara
An experienced digital marketer and veteran of the server life, Amanda whips up easy to digest tidbits for Toast’s Restaurant Management Blog and beyond.
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