Is Plastic Waste the Cost of Eating?

About a year ago, a comedian—not a scientist or environmentalist—enlightened consumers about a product they use every day that is harmful to the planet.

“A lot less plastic winds up getting recycled than you might think,” John Oliver said on that particular episode of Last Week Tonight, which has now been viewed more than 4 million times. In the United States and Canada, less than 9 percent of plastics is recycled. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), packaging comprises the largest percent of U.S. plastic waste. Since the pandemic disrupted curbside pickup and put more emphasis on single-use products, especially in food service, these numbers have only worsened.

Consumers often see plastic food packaging as the cost of eating: tubs of salad greens; clear clamshells for berries; and even, pre-wrapped cucumbers and other produce.

And while many plastics are recyclable, they still end up in landfills, oceans and, ultimately, in our bodies.

Now, however, in an exciting wave of innovation, businesses and entrepreneurs are rethinking how to package food.

REALLY RECYCLED?

“Much food packaging is made from plastic, and most plastics are never recycled—though the plastics industry has long worked to convince us otherwise,” says Dianna Cohen, co-founder and CEO of the Plastic Pollution Coalition.

One-quarter of packaging reaching recycling facilities is contaminated and, thus, sent to landfills, the EPA estimates. Contamination can occur from contact with non-recyclables in recycling bins or items that are not clean—the most common culprit is food residue.

Further, recycling facilities are often underfunded and overwhelmed. In 2018, China stopped importing most plastic waste from both the U.S. and Canada. That ban upended recycling systems that relied on exports, and neither country has been successful in building a domestic recycling market.

For example, Stamford, Connecticut made $95,000 selling recyclables in 2017; after 2018, it paid $700,000 for removal. And Bakersfield, California, earned $65 per ton from recyclables; it now pays $25 a ton to get rid of them.

The recycling system is also wrought with environmental injustice. “Recycling facilities are predominantly built in marginalized communities, in part due to the traditional invisibility of and bias against low-income communities of color and Indigenous peoples,” says Nilda Mesa, director of urban sustainability and equity planning at Columbia University’s Center for Sustainable Urban Development.

Amid pressure to transform the recycling system, experts are advocating for circularity in food packaging. Circular systems prevent waste from reaching recycling facilities by implementing strategies to reuse and repurpose plastics already created. A shift in this direction requires the food industry to rethink packaging materials and to consider what the reuse and disposal of plastics (eventually) would look like, especially for packaging that is compostable.

COMPOSTABLE IS COMPLICATED

Unilever and PepsiCo include compostable packaging as part of their strategies to reduce waste. Chipotle and Sweetgreen use compostable material for take-out meals.

Compostables are made of plant-based materials—corn, starch or sugarcane—unlike plastics derived from petroleum.

Compostable packaging isn’t always sustainable, though. Without the right infrastructure, pricing and awareness, compostables can contribute to the food packaging waste problem.

“Compostable is often referring to packaging that must be transported to an industrial composting facility—which it often isn’t, and just ends up in a landfill versus recycled,” says Emily Stucker, vice president of menu innovation and product integrity at Farmer’s Fridge.

This is, in part, because composting facilities are not available nationally. Mixing compostables into curbside bins can contaminate recycling streams. Throwing compostables in the trash gets them sent to landfills, where they emit methane.

When proper infrastructure and education are in place, processing compost can be sustainable, especially given that municipalities pay for waste processing by weight.

“A municipality that can figure out how to minimize its organic waste stream will be saving funds over the long run, as well as cutting greenhouse gas emissions and producing material that will enrich soils… It’s a win all over,” says Mesa. But only if they can afford it.

“We would have loved to be in all compostable packaging from the beginning, but for a small company starting out, pricing for small runs and guaranteed shelf life for new products with unknown velocity can be prohibitive,” says Logan Farley, chief operating officer at Brass Roots, a plant-based snack company based in New Orleans, Louisiana.

IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT

Food businesses consider pricing, shelf life and quality of presentation for packaging, and it’s been cheaper to choose plastic packaging. Brass Roots Founder Aaron Gailmor believes the tide is turning, however.

“Along with the innovation in more sustainable packaging, pricing has come down dramatically, and it’s only a small premium to conventional or fossil fuel-based packaging now,” Gailmor says.

Ecovative’s technology upcycles farming and forestry byproducts through mycelium to create plastic-free and home-compostable products for the food, leather, beauty, foam and packaging industries.

Gailmor is hopeful that more options can be available at large scale as consumer demand rises.

“If you’d asked me two years ago, I wouldn’t have been as enthusiastic,” says Gailmor, “but I am very confident now.” Consumer demand drives innovation, lower prices and more sustainable options for small businesses like Brass Roots, but the onus can’t be only on eaters.

THE POWER OF PROCUREMENT

One powerful solution is for government and institutional procurement practices to help reduce or eliminate plastic packaging.

“We can do this on an individual level and also need to support systems shifts, from our schools to our workplaces to policy and legislation,” says Cohen.

San Francisco, California, was one of the first cities to make a zero-waste commitment in 2003—it diverts 80 percent of its waste from landfills. Vendors use either compostable or recyclable containers, and every event must offer recycling and composting. The city also requires individuals and businesses to separate waste into recyclable, compostable and trash bins.

“Moving away from single-serve meals and snacks is probably the most impactful way to reduce packaging waste in an institutional setting,” says the Center for Good Food Purchasing, a nonprofit that aims to use procurement to build a more equitable food system.

According to the Center, buying bulk items can help institutions reduce both packaging waste and food waste—a win for tight budgets, too.

For example, many elementary school districts are required to serve milk which is distributed in single-serve cartons. Students take a carton, drink some or none of it and throw it in the trash. But when the Austin Independent School District in Texas transitioned to bulk milk, they reduced so much waste that it was able to transition to all organic milk for the same cost of single-serve cartons.

Other institutions are increasing demand for sustainable food services—within the Center’s partner institutions, there has been a more than 30 percent increase in environmentally sustainable purchasing over the last few years.

LEADING THE WAY

Meanwhile, some of the largest industry players are tackling packaging and plastic waste internally.

In 2021, Driscoll’s diverted more than 10 million pounds of packaging from landfills. The company’s circular clamshell initiative requires packaging suppliers to incorporate recycled clamshells back into new clamshells.

Clover Sonoma released the first fully plant-based milk carton in 2022. Meanwhile, Danone aims to make every piece of packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

This focus on waste reduction can drive investment in better sorting infrastructure, reducing widespread contamination and making recycling easier for all.

“Private industry has the opportunity to create the demand to kickstart or revive strong and stable recycling end markets for the circular economy, and we hope more brands and manufacturers will step up to the design and sourcing challenge,” says Camille Herrera, packaging development and sustainability manager at Driscoll’s.

More than 70 brands have committed to the One Step Closer to Zero Waste Packaging campaign, which launched in January 2022. It aims to improve infrastructure, labeling and the responsibility of producers.

The campaign also supports the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act. It mandates reduced production of a variety of materials, including plastic, and requires producers of packaging, containers and food service products to boost recycling and composting efforts.

Companies that fundamentally change the way they think about packaging, rather than simply swapping plastics for another singleuse material, can build true circularity.

“To make any kind of single-use packaging including compostables, you’re using precise raw materials, energy and water,” says Anukampa Freedom Gupta-Fonner, co-founder and CEO of SpringEats.com, an online grocery store achieving zero-waste delivery from farm to table.

ZERO PACKAGING

The best way to reduce packaging waste, though, is by using no packaging at all.

Apeel makes plant-derived coatings that growers, suppliers and retailers use to keep produce fresh two to three times longer. And NatureSeal coating combines vitamins, salts and minerals to extend the shelf life of sliced fruits for up to 28 days.

Meanwhile, Notpla aims to eliminate the need for single-use plastic bottles. Its condiments and water sachets are made from seaweed, which can be composted or actually eaten. And Sway’s seaweed packaging integrates seamlessly with existing machinery, eliminating the costs for manufacturers.

Gupta-Fonner’s waste-free delivery service aims to do the fundamental work of building a circular supply chain from the ground up. For her, waste is an issue of design. “Linear supply chains are not designed for this,” says Gupta-Fonner.

Designing the infrastructure for circularity—a system that inherently limits waste—can create an easy and affordable choice for all eaters.

PACKAGELESS EATING

There’s no silver bullet to solving the food packaging crisis. It’s complex and requires both top-down solutions and bottom-up changes by consumers and businesses.

“The real game changer will be when people buy less plastic, reuse what they have and minimize what goes in the trash and into recycling,” says Mesa.

Cohen recommends prioritizing unpackaged food. Whole Foods, Sprouts and co-ops allow customers to purchase bulk food in reusable containers, while zero-waste shops are becoming more common across the country. And farmers’ markets offer a way to avoid plastics in grocery.

Kroger partnered with TerraCycle to test a reusable packaging program in 25 Fred Meyer stores. Customers will be able to purchase products from brands like Arbor Teas, Nature’s Heart and Nature’s Path in reusable containers that they can return to be cleaned and reused.

If unpackaged foods or reusable containers aren’t available, Cohen says to choose easily recyclable materials like paper, glass and metal. Consumers can also look for products with instructions on how to dispose of their packaging.

“If you want true systemic change, it means taking a stand against things that derail the broader conversation, just like you take a stand for the organizations that are actually solving the problem,” says Gupta- Fonner.

There also is the need for a cultural shift. “When you acknowledge that there are resources, natural elements and actually pieces of real life and habitats that went into making this packaging,” says Gupta-Fonner, “then reuse is compassion.”

Emily Payne is Food Tank’s copy editor, and Danielle Nierenberg is the president and co-founder of Food Tank.