What Lies Ahead For The F & B Industry That Is Committing To Limit The Use Of Single-Use Plastic

The Biodegradable plastics market is expected to show robust growth owing to the increasing consumer preference for eco-friendly products. Technological innovation, advanced manufacturing processes and increased integration have enabled the consumers to adopt biodegradable packaging. Stringent regulations by various government and federal agencies to reduce plastic waste and promote biodegradable plastics usage in packaging is also boosting the demand for this market.

We are now producing roughly 300 million tons of plastic each year, 50% of which is for single-use purposes

Plastic is one of the defining inventions of our time, yet there’s no denying its negative impact on our environment. The low cost of production and its huge range of uses make plastic a convenient comfort in the current era. At the same time, the throwaway nature of these single-use products adds up to being one of the top sources of pollution throughout our oceans. Nearly 8.8 million tons is then dumped into the oceans, a startling rate considering plastic will never fully decompose.

From Starbucks to IKEA, many major corporations and businesses are opting to ditch single-use plastics from their day-to-day operations–and the hospitality space is no different.

Restaurant waste starts with plastic straws, which municipalities like Vancouver are starting to outlaw as they think that it is a way to lessen society’s reliance on disposable single-use items. It finishes with the ubiquitous black plastic takeout containers that can’t be recycled. National Geographic raised awareness of the issue by devoting its entire June edition to plastics, and with its “Planet or Plastics” pledge to reduce consumption of single-use plastics.

Food businesses are committed to implementing at least three of six practices:

1. Eliminate plastic straws and stirrers. 2. Trade polystyrene to-go containers, cups, bowls, and plates for containers that are biodegradable in the marine environment. 3. Eliminate plastic bags for to-go orders. 4. Use reusable and washable eating ware whenever possible. 5. Eliminate non-compostable plastic garbage bags. 6. Compost food waste or give to farmers. If using compostable bioplastic disposable products that are discarded at the business, have them composted in a high-heat composting facility.

Food businesses that adopt at least three of the practices get display decals and are listed in the not for profit’s publicity campaign. Many MDI food businesses were pursuing similar initiatives anyway, said Jill Higgins, co-coordinator of A Climate to Thrive. “But it hadn’t gone very far in terms of working together,” she said.

Will the practice of eliminating plastic become a restaurant trend? “It’s only a matter of time before it happens here in the Canadian marketplace,” says NPD Group analyst Robert Carter. “Operators who don’t address the consumer needs and concerns — there might be a bit of a backlash.”

A&W Canada is a QSR that has had a lot of success courting millennials. The company recently announced it will eliminate plastic straws, making it the first major QSR in North America to do so. Instead, it will offer guests paper straws that last up to three hours in a drink and biodegrade in three to six months. A&W estimates this will keep 82 million plastic straws out of landfills annually. This builds on A&W’s current use of compostable packaging and reusable mugs, plates, and cutlery.

The Migis Hotel Group switched from plastic drinking straws to paper straws at the beginning of 2018 in its six of Maine hotels and three outside the state, Chief Operating Officer Peter Twachtman told Mainebiz. At perhaps 200 covers per dinner, 80 per breakfast and 200 for lunch at just one location, that’s 450,000 to 500,000 straws per year, he said. The policy is to serve drinks without straws and if someone requests one, to offer a paper straw. The group is moving out of other single-use plastics, too, he said — wooden cocktail stirrers, reusable and washable eating ware for Migis Lodge’s lunchtime cookouts, paper cups by the water fountain and bamboo to-go containers.

In March, the Sea Dog Brewing Co. in Camden announced it cut its use of plastic straws by 30% and uses a program that turns food waste into biofuels to decrease its environmental footprint.

A website called Sustainable Seacoast lists other southern Maine restaurants eliminating single-use plastics. They include Flatbread Co. and BRGR. Portland and Kittery’s Maine Squeeze’s website says it uses compostable to-go ware. Sustainable Seacoast restaurant members commit to using reusable dinnerware, no polystyrene, no plastic bags, recycling, and on-demand-only straws and to-go utensils. If bioplastics are offered, commercial composting service and receptacles must be provided.

Last year, Marriott International announced it will stop using plastic straws and stirrers at its more than 6,500 properties. NPR reported that this will potentially be eliminating the use of more than 1 billion plastic straws and 250 million stirrers per year. It joined Starbucks, McDonald’s and Alaska Air, which made similar commitments. Charlotte Mace, executive director of Biobased Maine in Portland, said the industry association is focusing on the replacement of fossil-derived plastics with more sustainable alternatives made from trees due to Maine’s sustainably harvested forests. The sector is still in development. “We know it’s a trend that’s coming,” she said.

With such big brands following the norm towards greater environmental awareness and protection of overall health, more brands are sure to follow in the coming years. The growth is the biodegradable plastics market is not expected to slow down any time soon.