Are Plastic Bag Bans the Answer?

Effective July 01 many parts of unincorporated Los Angeles County must comply with the first stage of the plastic bag ban phase-in.  With many retail categories exempt from the ban, the overall goal is to reduce the county plastic bag use by 50%..

Is a plastic bag ban the solution to the environmental impact of carrying purchases from the point of sale to the consumption destination?  Some sort of "bag" will be used for products and the general options are plastic, paper and reusable bags.

In future posts, the ZWZ Blog will explore the carbon footprint associated with paper bag manufacturing and recycling.  Reusable bags will be addressed from a food safety perspective due to recent reports of bacteria growth in the bags.  Additionally, it appears spent reusable bags are landfill destined.

what is the answer to plastic
bag pollution?

To learn more about the CA bag ban, read Meredith Skrzypczak's article Plastic Bag Ban In Some County Areas Starts Today.

In the ZWZ Blog post, Is Plastic Really Kin to the Devil?, many of the virtues of plastic are mentioned.  Rather than plastic bag ban ordinances, it seems a more holographic approach will result in sustainable long-term solutions.

Atlanta Airport - First SFCI Pilot Project!

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Concourse T serves as the first Sustainable Food Court Initiative pilot project!  It is thrilling news as the SFCI Team moves into ACTION mode.

SFCI mission: To bring zero waste initiatives to food courts and develop industry sustainable best practices for back-of-the-house and front-of-the-house operations.  Visit the SFCI page for challenges inherent in food court operations for zero waste practices and additional SFCI details.

SFCI Pilot ACTION Team meeting

With a powerful pilot project team, including the Foodservice Packaging Institute, National Restaurant Association, Institute for Local Self Reliance,  Elemental Impact|Zero Waste Zones, MeadWestvaco, Solo Cup, Natureworks, CleanRiver, Asean|StalkMarket, Tomra. NA  and HMS Host, the first action points are fact-finding in nature with establishing packaging and waste baselines a top priority.  In addition to the national team members, the City of Atlanta, Sustainability Division, Department of Aviation and WastePro serve on the Atlanta Airport pilot ACTION Team.


Thanks to Michael Cheyne's, Atlanta Airport Director, Asset Management and Sustainability, strong enthusiasm back-of-the-house organics collection is set for a several month pilot beginning in November.


Stay tuned for updates from the food court zero waste journey and announcements of additional pilots.  These are phenomenal times!

Recycling Survey Article on Earth911.com

In early June, Earth911.com published Alison Lara's article Why Aren't Restaurants Recycling? in response to the NRA|Georgia Pacific restaurant recycling survey (see ZWZ Blog post, Recycling for all the Right Returns, for details on the survey).  Eco-Warrior Chris Moyer, National Restaurant Association Conserve Program Director, gives the positive side to why restaurants may not participate in recycling programs.  


In his quotes, Chris emphasizes restaurants in general do choose to recycle yet there may be infrastructure challenges in their area.  Education is key to strong recycling programs - the NRA Conserve program is working closely with Elemental Impact | Zero Waste Zones on recycling education tools that may be communicated through the state restaurant association network.


ZWZ Director Holly Elmore is also quoted in the article on the potential cost-savings inherent in recycling the heavier materials, organics and glass.


Focusing on the positive and accomplishments to date is imperative to mobilizing an industry to change their basic operating practices, including disposal methods.  The NRA|Ei|ZWZ Team is committed to creating an encouraging environment where new sustainable operating practices are easy to implement and cost-neutral to cost-savings.

ZWZ Blog: A Powerful Communication Tool

The ZWZ Blog is a powerful communication tool for the important work accomplished by the Zero Waste Zones and auxiliary initiatives.  Over the past months the ZWZ Blog page views began increasing at an accelerated  rate,  In mid June the cumulative page views surpassed 14,000 views from a global audience!  Comments are beginning to come along with the page views - YEA, lively dialogue is just around the corner!


In an effort to maximize the ZWZ Blog's value, Elemental Impact entered the cyberspace social network world by creating an Ei Facebook page that has around 150 "likes", without any promotion.  Each ZWZ Blog post is published on the Ei FB page and Ei Founder Holly Elmore's wall.  Chris Moyer, National Restaurant Association Conserve Program Director, is a co-administer of the Ei FB page and publishes interesting antidotes from the sustainability journey.


To strengthen the strong following Ei now Tweets!  Chris serves as Holly's official "tweet coach" while she learns to navigate a foreign realm.  


The ZWZ Team invites you to "like" the Ei FB Page, follow Ei on Twitter (@ElementalImpact) and become active supporters by sharing blog posts on your networks and including the ZWZ Blog link where appropriate.  Thank you for your contribution to communicating the important messages inherent in ZWZ|Ei initiatives.

Glass Recycling Kiln Ignited

Whew - in the knick of time Owens-Illinois (O-I), the world's largest glass manufacturer, comes to the rescue.  With an aggressive goal of using 60% post-consumer cullet (i.e. broken glass returned for recycling) in their manufacturing by 2017, O-I contacted the Zero Waste Zones to explore a partnership for development of glass recycling systems that make good business sense.

cullet

O-I provides the main missing link in ZWZ's prior glass recycling research:  economics.  Other necessary parameters are in-place for the Atlanta market:  1> Glass processing facility -  Strategic Materials, who prepares collected glass for manufacturing, has an Atlanta facility  2> End Markets - O-I has a metro Atlanta manufacturing plant and 3>ZWZ Participants - bar|restaurants operators, the largest producers of used glass, ready, willing and eager to separate glass for recycling collection.  


Without the economics in place, it seemed impossible to create a glass recycling program based on sound business principles.  In fact, ZWZ Director Holly Elmore announced the ZWZ were ready to pursue end-use options in lieu of recycling.  See the ZWZ Blog post, Recycling Integrity @ IFSS, for the session where the announcement was made and a link for the PPT presentation with several slides detailing the glass dilemma.


The day following the end-use announcement O-I contacted Holly after finding the 05-10  ZWZ  Blog post, Single-Sream Recycling Controversy, where a ZWZ glass recycling commitment was declared.  What timing!


The National Restaurant Association and the Glass Packaging Institution immediately joined the glass recycling team.  In the fact-finding phase, the team has embarked on action items to develop an Atlanta pilot, serving as the foundation for a national template.


With the glass recycling kiln ignited by O-I,  stay tuned for more tales from the trail to successful programs.  These are thrilling times!

NRA Speaks @ GRA Sustainability Luncheon

GRA Chair Anthony Joseph &
GRA EC Karen Bremer

The Georgia Restaurant Association (GRA) hosted their Annual Meeting on the longest day of the year to an impressive crowd who attended the sessions throughout the day culminating in a PAC Reception.  For the first annual Chairperson's Luncheon sustainability was the chosen topic.

Gary Black

Covering the local and seasonal aspects of sustainability, GA Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black spoke of the department's commitment to supporting the smaller, local farmer and to working with the GRA on meeting the industry's demand for locally grown produce.  As a Green Foodservice Alliance (GFA) Advisory Council Member, Gary Black was active in his role and attended early Producer Task Force meetings.

Chris Moyer & ZWZ Panel

Chris Moyer, National Restaurant Association Conserve Program Director, traveled to Atlanta and moderated an impressive panel of Zero Waste Zones heroes who paved the way for future participants to meet the ZWZ Criteria with ease and grace.  After giving an overview of the NRA|Ei|ZWZ collaboration, Chris asked the panelists to share their ZWZ experiences based on prepared questions and those from the audience.  The ZWZ heroes were Steve Simon (Fifth Group Restaurants),  Paul Baldasaro (Buckhead Life Group) and Patrick Cuccaro (Affairs to Remember).

Alan LeBlanc, GA Rep Ralph Long
& GRA Vice Chair Patrick Cuccaro

On hand to fill in the gaps and answer detailed questions, Holly Elmore, ZWZ Director & Ei Founder, gave an update on emerging initiatives, including the Sustainable Food Court Initiative and a glass recycling project in the infancy stages. 


As Holly founded the ZWZ while serving as the GFA Executive Director, the PAC reception was a fun time to reconnect with those involved in the development stages.

GRA Staff

Congratulations to the GRA staff on an excellent day filled with pertinent educational sessions.  Thank you for the opportunity to share the ZWZ success with the GRA membership.

GOT QUESTIONS? ZWZ Has Answers!

The Zero Waste Zones Team compiled a list of frequently asked questions encountered during meetings with prospective participants.  Visit the ZWZ FAQ Page (link to come) where questions and answers are broken down into Business, Logistical and Environmental categories.  Thank you to Susan Montgomery, ZWZ Program Director, for the excellent job on summarizing the questions & answers in an easy to understand format.

On a more specific note, Brenda Platt with the Institute for Local Self Reliance, authored an excellent Compostable Products FAQ document with simple answers to complex questions.  Sustainable Food Court Initiative Team Members from the Foodservice Packaging Institute, NatureWorks and MeadWestvaco contributed with invaluable input and comments.  Note the document is evolutionary with frequent revisions anticipated to reflect industry growth and technical advances.

It is fun to witness the collaborative effort at work in supporting the foodservice industry pioneers embrace sustainable best practices, especially in the zero waste arena.