Coronavirus has increased the need for single-use plastic in the food industry: can restaurants fights back?
Caption: Recyclable bags and containers can have a big impact on a restaurants environmental footprint during the pandemic (open license image)
COVID-19 and it’s subsequent shutdowns have impacted many industries, including restaurants. This has started an inspiring display of diners encouraged to place orders for carry out at their favorite eateries around town.
As we show out to support our communities, it puts environmentally-conscious diners in a catch 22: all this to-go ordering has greatly increased our consumption of single-use plastic.
In our current culture of masks and hand sanitizers, products that are disposable and individually wrapped have become the encouraged norm. Specifically, the demand for single-use plastics like polystyrene, the material used to make Styrofoam, have experienced a large increase in demand due to COVID-19 according to Bloomberg. Some say it’s benefits in sanitation outweigh its environmental hazards.
Matthew Wilde, chef and owner of Bob’s Pizza in Pilsen has grappled with the myriad of issues posed by COVID-19, carry out being one of them. He said his suppliers for to-go materials haven’t been able to keep up with the increased demand from the pandemic, and they’ve experienced shortages as a result. But Wilde maintains that the best way for hungry patrons to support small businesses is to “call ahead and place orders to-go” as it is the safest for employees
Caption: Bob’s Pizza in Pilsen, like many local restaurants, has shifted from dine-in to carry-out to meet the needs of the pandemic (credit: Bob’s Pizza instagram)
Theoretically, plastic is perfect for a pandemic; it is cheap, disposable, sanitary, and readily available for all use across industries (not just restaurants, but hospitals and doctors also rely on them to keep supplies sanitary). Plastic manufacturers such as Ineos Styrolution and Trinseo SA have seen double-digit percentage increase in sales volume as a result of the pandemic, in both the food packaging and health care sectors. Single-use plastic might be a necessary evil to get us safely through pandemic times.
Prior to the pandemic, there was a strong effort to reduce single use waste in the hospitality industry - well evidenced by the conversation around paper straws, which was a hot button topic in 2019. The topic of making restaurants less wasteful has been put on hold in favor of making them more sanitary.
Some cities like Chicago have slowly introduced limited indoor dining, but all abound is talk of a “second surge,” mutating strains, and snowy weather causing more cases in Chicago, meaning our winter dinners will likely be delivered in cardboard bags and styrofoam boxes to be enjoyed in our homes, rather than over a candlelit restaurant tabletop.
It’s complicated and there’s no easy answer for any restaurant owner who wants to reduce single-use waste while increasing to-go orders. But there are many small efforts that can be made which lead to a bigger overall impact. Using to-go materials that are sustainable is a great place to start, and studies have shown that this can even attract new customers and improve a brand’s image. Many companies (like the popular Harvest Pack) make compostable, recyclable, biodegradable food packaging at a range of pricing options.
There's plenty we can do as consumers, too, to reduce the environmental impact of our carry out dinner. Reusing and washing the plastic containers and delis is a good start, and asking for no utensils in favor of using your own at home will get you even farther.
Whatever plastic you do use in carry out, you can make up for it by using less plastic at the grocery store (bring your own reusable bags to stores that allow them, and don’t individually wrap your fruits and veggies - just wash them well when you get home!). That way, the plastic you use when supporting restaurants wont weigh so heavy on your conscience.
As Chicagoans, we also have a responsibility to understand what can and cannot be recycled in our city, and to adjust our actions accordingly. We can recycle plastic containers and cardboard, but not plastic bags, among other particulars.
While we make temporary solutions to a crop of problems that took us by surprise in 2020, we also look towards the future for the development of more sustainable and long term solutions. Experts are working hard and spending billions to create non plastic-based disposable materials.
While we seem to wait eternally for things to “go back to normal,” maybe it's time we try and balance our pandemic modesty with our environmental sensibilities. Europeans aren't wasting anytime - they decided to ban single use plastic in 2021 It’s time we take the solutions into our own hands so we can dine guilt-free.