Contaminated Packaging: The Elephant in the Food & Drink Industry
By: Jamie Mcilhatton
Tags: Sustainability, Climate Change, Business, Waste, Climate Action

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

Every day I’ll watch as a new hospitality venue jumps onto Instagram to boast of their new sustainable packaging. They believe that they’re reducing their impact and in many ways, they’re probably correct. The problem is, the obstacles go far deeper than merely switching to a less impactful material.

Before I begin, I want to make it clear that I get it. I own two coffee shops and it’s actually really difficult to remove waste from the equation. There’ll be no judgment from me; I wholeheartedly understand that alternatives are marketed to us, and if they seem better than what we already use, a similar price, we’ll often make the switch. Unfortunately, what’s marketed to us and what’s happening out of sight are two very different things.

The fact is, everything has an impact. Every material, every process, every product, and every use of that product. Our job is to just find the least harmful options and in some rare cases, fall upon one that actually has a net benefit. To do this, we cannot rest on our laurels; we can’t just replace the ‘bad’ with the supposedly ‘good’, it doesn’t work like that. Science is constantly evolving, on a daily basis, as more and more research is conducted. Often this means that what we once believed in, is no longer accurate and we must be open and comfortable with a daily process of self-criticism. As business owners and as individuals.

A Burning Question.

It’s always bugged me…I go to a restaurant and pick up a plastic container full of whatever I’m having for lunch. Their social media as well as the container itself claims to be recyclable but is it really? Am I being unnecessarily skeptical?

Once that container is covered in sauce and oil, which bin do I put it into? Surely it can’t go into recycling? It’ll contaminate everything else.

If I put it into the general waste, won’t bacteria grow to an extent that you can’t do much with the container anymore?

We’re placing all of our faith in the retailers and other people telling us everything is going to be okay and that we’re doing our bit when maybe we’re not? It’s far too easy for us, including myself, to turn a blind eye.

The truth is, contaminated recyclable materials cannot be recycled. Contamination can come from food, grease, oils, or any kind of soiling and those materials immediately gain a one-way ticket to landfill.

According to Rabbit Group, In 2018, UK councils sent over 500,000 tonnes of recycling to landfill due to contamination. Any of those materials could take more than 400 years to degrade before the item breaks down, and in the meantime may contaminate soil and water. Alternatively, contaminated recycling may be sent overseas. In 2018, the UK exported 611,000 tonnes of plastic packaging to countries such as Malaysia. When outside of UK jurisdiction, it’s not guaranteed how it will be treated — if it’s deemed low-quality recycling, it could end up in landfills. There are also high levels of plastic pollution in the ocean around Malaysia.

So, how can we avoid contamination?

First and foremost, those plastic food containers you use, clean, and dry them. Don’t throw them away and assume they’ll be cleaned, they won’t. Greasy cardboard packaging such as pizza boxes also cannot be recycled.

Your recycling bin, commercial or domestic, must be filled with clean and dry recyclable goods. Yes, it takes effort on our part as well to ensure less goes to landfill.

Another big problem in the food & drink industry is that a lot of ‘eco-packaging’ or packaging claiming to be recyclable will be covered in layers that definitely aren’t. Stickers, labels, additional plastic insulation to retain heat. Containers or bags that may have started as recyclable or compostable aren’t by the time you use them. This means that even if we’ve achieved clean and dry materials, there’s still plenty of work to be done as the individual disposing of the product will need to dismantle it and remove any components that cannot be recycled. This leads to another important question……

Photo by Kirsty TG on Unsplash

Do we, as individuals, bear the weight of responsibility, or do systems need to change?

I’m very much in agreement with the latter. From a business owner's perspective, we have to reduce work the customer has to do as much as possible, otherwise, they just won’t take part. It’s why we’ve become so dependent on single-use packaging, a ‘take, make, and dispose’ model. It has allowed for a cheap and ultra-convenient customer experience. However, we now need to maintain convenience whilst reducing the waste we produce.

We also need to remember that the organizations recycling these materials are businesses too. If the costs to separate begin to rise, it’s generally cheaper to just send the more time-consuming items to the landfill.

For me, reuse and circular models have to be at the core of hospitality sectors around the world. We need companies, small and large, to facilitate streamlined processes of reuse, using materials that are hygienic, heat/spill-proof, and easy to clean. Integrated systems whereby every restaurant is a drop off station for containers to be cleaned, sterilized, and reused, you don’t need to travel back to the same place you purchased from.

I think one message is clear, and that is that we can no longer stand by and blindly continue, ‘business as usual’. It’s too easy to continue with our habits and business norms but there are so many exciting business opportunities to exploit. So much untapped potential. There’s no reason why companies must sacrifice revenue and profits, all it takes is a little experimentation and curiosity to try new things.