Eco-Products combats compostables contamination with “long overdue” mitigation program

10 Oct 2023 --- Novolex brand Eco-Products has unveiled a program to help foodservice operators keep non-compostable items out of organic streams. The program — Controls Intended to Remove Contamination (CIRC) — will verify that restaurants and other operators are taking important steps to prevent non-compostable materials from being sent to composting facilities.

While food scraps, yard trimmings and certified compostable packaging can be composted in the US, anything else creates “serious problems” for composters.

“Composters have an extremely limited ability to deal with contamination from non-compostable items once it gets to their facility,” Wendell Simonson, director of marketing at Eco-Products, tells Packaging Insights.

“With single-stream recycling, consumers can put different materials in one bin, and it all gets sorted into different streams. That’s not the case with composting — even a small amount of contamination can create serious business problems for composters, who aim to sell contaminant-free finished compost as a nutrient-rich soil amendment.”

“Making matters worse is that consumer awareness of what is compostable is quite low. They might know food waste is compostable, but what about the plate, cup or other packaging?”

Foodservice operators must put controls in place to prevent contamination from reaching composters in the first place. CIRC is designed to help foodservice operators take measures to verify such efforts so composters can be more confident about accepting material from them. The program helps prevent contamination before waste reaches composters.

Inside the program
The program features scorecards that foodservice operators will use to show composters and haulers that the necessary controls are in place to generate contaminant-free organics streams. The scorecard is divided into four sections — Procurement, Operations, Communications and Hauler Engagement — that contain criteria and conditions that are either required or encouraged.

Individual composting facilities would be able to determine their own “passing” scores and which conditions are “required” or “encouraged.”

“The program is free and open-sourced, meaning anyone may use it regardless of whether or not they’re an Eco-Products customer,” Simonson tells us.

“Eco-Products’ customers, however, will definitely benefit from working with our nationwide Product and Zero Waste Specialist team free of charge. This team will guide them through implementing the CIRC program so it works well for both them and their composter.”

Last year, Eco-Products introduced a compostable wrap for packing hot and cold food products such as snacks and sandwiches.Eco-Product’s compostable wraps made from wax paper.

Study in Chicago
The new program was launched after a 2022 study looking at contamination in foodservice waste streams found that restaurants and other venues could divert more food scraps and other materials from landfills by adopting compostable packaging as part of an integrated approach to their operations. 

The CompostAble Chicago study examined four foodservice venues in the Chicago area — a full-service restaurant, a museum quick-serve café, a school cafeteria and a university quick-serve café — and collected data on operating conditions and the composition of their waste streams.

The study found that venues using compostable cups, plates and utensils collected more food scraps under favorable operating conditions. Importantly, those food scraps could be relied upon to contain lower levels of contamination when key operating conditions were met.

“Organics diversion at scale in the foodservice industry is impossible without composter willingness to accept and process post-consumer food scraps and certified packaging,” adds Simonson.

“An operator-driven systems approach to contamination mitigation is long overdue.”

By Joshua Poole, with additional reporting from Natalie Schwertheim