New toolkit aims to teach the 'how and why' of foodservice packaging recycling

Dive Brief:

The Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI) has rolled out a free toolkit to support MRFs, foodservice providers, and local governments in recycling foodservice packaging and guiding them through the process.
The kit is organized in three sections targeting specific stakeholders: communities, MRFs, and end markets. A fourth section is in the works for operators of composting and anaerobic digestion facilities.
FPI's Paper Recovery Alliance and Plastics Recovery Group developed this informational resource through collaboration with the National Restaurant Association. There will be a free webinar on April 21 to learn more about the toolkit and the website that showcases it.

Dive Insight:

Recovering foodservice packaging can save money, cut waste, and generate revenue, but there are currently no clear cut, universal standards to define what is recyclable and where, which can raise questions for those who handle these materials. Meanwhile reports continue to roll out on plastics and other wastes that end up in the oceans, which detail their consequences with much of this waste being from food packaging.

The good news, such as the potential revenue from recovery, and the bad news, like what is happening to our oceans, are among the reasons why the toolkit's creators worked on this project. This offering is intended to do more than just share information by serving as a how-to resource, plotting a course to potential end markets for recycled materials, and presenting case studies showing foodservice packaging recovery in play.

The section for foodservice operators guides them from point A to point B on setting up in-store recycling and/or composting programs. More practical tools include downloadable forms that can be customized, educational videos, and a map summarizing recycling and composting policies.

"Recovering cups, containers, boxes, bags, and other food service packaging is a topic of intense interest not only for consumers but also for the foodservice packaging supply chain and those in the recycling and composting industries," said FPI Presidnet Lynn Dyer in a press release. "We've created this toolkit to respond to the questions and needs of many different stakeholders involved in the recovery process."