Cutlery made from corn is cutting edge, but recycling process can be daunting

On Board Online • May 2, 2016

By Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer

As schools incorporate more compostable lunch trays and similar products into their food service operations, many also are looking to expand their environmental efforts to include alternatives to plastic cutlery.

Easier said than done, say experts in composting and recycling.

"This is not an insignificant challenge for any organization looking to 'green' its food services," said Greg Gelewski, recycling operations manager for the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA).

Traditional plastic ware is seldom recyclable. It is made of compressed polystyrene, and the machinery needed to process that material is rare, Gelewski said.

So, suppliers are responding with an array of disposable school cutlery products touted as environmentally friendly. The products can carry several labels, such as recyclable, compostable or biodegradable.

Although these goods are primarily made of corn starch or potato starch, plastic is sometimes part of the mix, warned Jean Bonhotal, director of the Cornell Waste Management Institute. "We have a mishmash of everything out there that may or may not degrade," she said.

"Some break down at 190 degrees Fahrenheit. We don't have 190 degrees Fahrenheit in the compost pile - if we do, we have spontaneous combustion going on," she said.

If degradable cups are stacked, that reduces the exposed surface area and hinders the breakdown. But if they are separated, they easily can blow away from a compost pile, Bonhotal said.

Sorting out the practicality of products available has been a challenge for Chris Van Damm, director of food services at Rondout Valley in Ulster County. While the district has found a disposable cafeteria tray that is designed to break down in landfills, he is skeptical of corn-based utensils.

Van Damm said he's been told the "biodegradable" utensils would need to be separated from other trash, set aside for pickup by a recycler and then heated and ground up for composting. He hasn't found a local recycler who could perform that service.

Cornell's Bonhotal wistfully recalled a time when some products used in schools already were degradable without anyone planning it that way. Ice cream cups came with flat wooden "spoons" and students sipped their milk from paper straws instead of plastic ones.

(While they usually cost more, wooden utensils still are available. One supplier, US Foods, even offers a spork made of compostable wood.)

What's best for the environment? Less waste, period, Bonhotal said. She said schools and other large facilities could return to using washable plates and utensils, now commonly known as "durables."

But food service managers point to costs for hot water, detergent, mineral solvents, maintenance and employees to run the machines.

"Most of us had to go to plastic because we can't afford to run our dish machines anymore," said Patty Barber of the Phoenix school district in Oswego County. "My dish rooms are closed. I closed my last two last year."

For school districts investigating compostable products, OCRRA's Gelewski suggests a visit to the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) website ( www.bpiworld.org ). Searching the food service section of the site for "cutlery" produced a list of companies that make products BPI lists as certified, but Gelewski still advised caution and careful research.

"The growing trend is for schools to move toward composting with large-scale facilities that can handle BPI 'certified' compostable utensils and service ware," he said. "The challenge is that not all compost facilities will accept them because they take a longer time to break down, predominantly because they are so dense."