I would be interested to find out how these bans affected total landfill numbers. I’ve heard that the ban in SF was not as successful as they had hoped, because other food packaging refuse went up as a result of the ban. Is it being reconsidered?.. and if polystyrene is recycled, as is now happening in many companies, cities and even in food service applications, is it still environmentally unfriendly? I read on earth 911 that otherwise compostable products, (ie. cardboard/paper) are often deemed nonrecycleable because they absorb oils etc from food, so they end up in landfill situations (where biodegradation is actually actively prohibited due to methane gas and groundwater pollution it causes, as well as the fact that we don’t ever re-use “dump soil” for growing food.) I have also heard it stated that in order for biodegradation in mass quantities to be eco-friendly, there must be some sort of condenser used. Is the goal not to keep the resources we use in the consumer stream for as long as possible, and keep as much as possible out of landfill? If the cardboard cannot remain clean, it is actually non-helpful. At the elementary school where I work, the students can keep their #6 trays quite clean, as they are nonporous, and we recycle 90% of them. They are re-used in the form of picture frames, and can also be made into building materials, cd cases, computer cases, more foodservice trays, etc.

Maybe the key is to identify both what product works for the consumer, and be sure that it can be re-used.
We couldn’t do it with cardboard, as the recycling company had to back out on the contract to recycle our district’s “unclean” trays.
It is just hard to clean cardboard in the food service application!

I am currently working on creating a local loop for our trays, and possibly the trays of about 50 other schools.

I remember in the sixties/seventies when we discovered that aluminum, tin and glass were big problems because of litter. You’re probably too young to remember the Native American crying commercial, or the owl who told us “Give a hoot! Don’t pollute!” (I think his name was Woodsy the Owl), but that was a behavioral problem, and now that we know more, the litter is not an issue. Plus, there are now recycling centers everywhere for glass and aluminum. Polystyrene intake centers for recycling are popping up everywhere, though most people don’t yet know it’s an option.

Possibly the waterways can be cleaned up, and the landfill increase slowed with a public education campaign about polystyrene recycling opportunities and secondary uses.

Maybe that’s two birds with one stone? (landfill issues, and re-use/loop mindset) What do you think?

Laura Rodriguez