There is a massive issue in food packaging. Most food packaging is either impossible to recycle, or difficult to recycle. If it is considered difficult to recycle, it doesn’t get recycled at all. This is simply the reality of food packaging. The pandemic has only exacerbated things, as restaurants turn to takeout and delivery to remain afloat. This means they are churning out even more packaging that eventually goes to landfills.
What’s a good way to help?
To fix this problem, restaurant owners need to find eco-friendly food packaging options. These can be Recyclable, Reusable or Compostable.
By making a stand today, your impact will affect future generations.
Besides that, there are also other reasons to be environmentally friendly. First of all, saving the environment will help the very creatures and plants your restaurant relies on. Second, you could stand to gain a lot of goodwill with Millenials. Millennials are environmentally conscious, so much so that they are 1.5 times more likely to purchase a sustainable product when compared to similar competitors. Talking about your new eco-friendly takeaway food containers on social media would be a great way to capture that market.
What kind of eco-friendly packaging would be best?
As previously mentioned, there are three types of sustainable packaging: recyclables, reusables and compostables. Which one you choose will depend on what kind of restaurant you run and how your consumers will recycle the containers after.
Recyclable
Certain plastic products, such as plastic number 5 (polypropylene) and plastic number 1 (polyethylene), along with aluminium, make up this group of eco-friendly containers. Plastic number 5 keeps food warmer than other plastic choices. If you want to buy this particular kind of container, be aware that you should have a recycling number where the customer can see. They are the ones who must wash and recycle it.
Compostable
Compostables can be some of the most confusing eco-friendly options. Just because a package is labelled “compostable” doesn’t mean you can just throw it in the garbage and call it a day. This doesn’t work very well for actually composting your ‘compostable.’ The secret ingredient? A commercial compost facility. These facilities provide the right environment for it to compost in the shortest amount of time possible.
Since it can be confusing, you should inform your customers about how compostables work and how to properly dispose of them. You should also check to see how close a compost facility is to your location.
Some good examples of compostable packaging are both paper and polylactic acid (PLA). Paper is good for dry goods that won’t leak into the paper. This is because certain things that can saturate paper, such as grease, also removes its ability to be compostable and recyclable. PLA, on the other hand, is made from biodegradable materials like cornstarch. It has better thermal conductivity than plastics which translates to warm food.
Reusable
Reusable food containers are a great idea. You save money as you don’t buy a lot of containers; they’re just used then reused. To incentivise your customers to buy and use these bowls, think of giving away free toppings or perhaps a free drink, or even extra sides when they use these bowls.
Conclusion
The planet needs our help; who says we can’t help it and ourselves at the same time? The coronavirus has escalated takeout, but that doesn’t mean trash should increase too. With these eco-friendly containers, you can easily make a profit and help out mother nature.
Looking for eco-friendly food packaging in Australia? Go to Keeo today! Keeo has a dazzling array of 100% biodegradable containers!