Follow the Green Lead When It Comes to Packaging Waste

Talk about a last straw: Starbucks’ announcement earlier this month that it’s switching to a new type of recyclable lid to replace plastic straws for its cold beverages garnered headlines and social media buzz around the world.

The coffee chain’s high-profile move to reduce package waste comes in a year when other major foodservice chains have announced significant efforts to bolster their sustainability practices through package choice. Earlier in 2018, McDonald’s shared its company goal of switching to 100% renewable, recycled or certified sources for packaging and to have in-store recycling by 2025.

CPG companies have also recognized package waste as an issue for the planet, as well as for discerning consumers. One example is Coca-Cola’s “World Without Waste” program, which has a goal of collecting and recycling the equivalent of 100% of its packaging by 2030. 

Within the grocery business, several retailers have pledged to lower package waste, including The Kroger Co., which recently revealed results of its Zero Hunger Zero Waste Initiative that includes a variety of product/package waste reduction efforts to be implemented by 2020.

Restaurant-retail hybrids and retail foodservice operations, especially those with consumable products meant for on-the-run consumers, face similar issues. Starbucks’ move to eliminate straws likely will have a trickle-down effect in stores with in-house coffee shops, smoothie bars, full-service bars and sit-down cafes and restaurants.

Related:Kroger Dishes on Its Journey Toward Sustainable Operations

Steven Johnson, “Grocerant Guru” and an industry consultant with Tacoma, Wash.-based Foodservice Solutions, says that while paper straws can be used in place of plastic, the average paper straw lasts only 18 minutes in a drink. “If you have a child under the age of 10 and they get a milkshake or a Slurpee, the odds are they won’t consume that drink in 18 minutes. Then the straw gets clogged. So there is a certain conundrum, and the undercurrent will disrupt the drink industry,” Johnson says.

Beyond beverages, prepared foods departments and grocerants have other areas in which package waste is an issue. “With things like rotisserie chicken and lasagna, the question is how you serve that in a recyclable container that will hold it,” Johnson says. Even some containers made with sustainable materials can’t be recycled once food products touch or discolor parts of it, he says.

As demand for reducing packaging waste, particularly plastic, continues in the public discourse, innovations will emerge that affect foodservice-at-retail operations. Those innovations will take various forms, Johnson says. “How about a reusable container? People can bring their containers back,” he says. Some pizza restaurants have already experimented with reusable, reheatable boxes, he says.

Related:Ikea Switches to Packaging Made From Mushrooms

To balance sustainability with priorities of consumer convenience and satisfaction, Johnson says packaging suppliers, brands and retailers will work on alternatives that meet as many marketplace demands as possible in a lighter eco-footprint.

“This is an area where a series of partnerships and strategic relationships will change the industry,” he says.