The switch to compostable serviceware is becoming more and more common at colleges and universities. When the city of Seattle made it mandatory for all foodservice establishments to discontinue use of foam containers, the University of Washington in Seattle knew its time had come. Michael Meyering, project manager for housing and foodservices at the university, speaks about how they accomplished the switch.
As colleges become concerned with reducing waste any way they can, operators like Michael Meyering, project manager for housing and foodservices at the University of Washington in Seattle, have decided to switch to compostable to-go containers and serviceware. In the process, his operation went from collecting 240 tons of compostables in 2006-2007 to more than 506 tons last year. “In January 2007, our customers called us to task for our wastefulness. We selected one of our busiest foodservice operations on campus to create a zero-waste model, assessing what was compostable in the disposables line and what wasn’t. We began working with our distributors, searching for the right products and doing product testing. In April 2008, the City of Seattle proposed a ban on foam take-out containers in all Seattle restaurants, effective January 2009, and turned to us as a local model since we had already stopped using foam. We also eliminated polystyrene cutlery. My best advice is to find a project champion and assign him or her the task of diverting solid waste immediately. Give this person purchasing and logistics support to develop a product line and market the program. Assign unit-level environmental stewards the task of monitoring setup and sorting and involve all participants as the program grows.”