Archive for category: FPI in the News

As more communities take proactive steps to manage food waste, residential composting programs are gaining traction. Within these programs, integrating compostable foodservice packaging becomes an important consideration in enhancing waste diversion efforts. Compostable packaging streamlines how food scraps are managed, simplifying the diversion of organic waste to the composting stream. Certain composting initiatives strategically include compostable packaging into their operations to boost consumer involvement in these programs.

Recognizing the need to address this issue and maximize the efficiency of composting initiatives, the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI) conducted a thorough study looking at prominent residential programs. The study provides insights and best practices for integrating compostable foodservice packaging into residential curbside composting programs.

The report unveils the results of an in-depth study of eight well-established residential composting programs in the U.S., all of which accept varying types of foodservice packaging as part of their acceptable materials list. The term “foodservice packaging” in this context refers to foodservice products (e.g., cups, plates, bowls, clamshell containers, boxes, bags, etc.) made of compostable plastics, fiber and/or other organic materials. The report, compiled through interviews and compilation of public-facing program information, encapsulates a range of best practices. It provides an invaluable guide for those looking to establish or enhance residential organics collection programs, ensuring effective management of both their food waste and foodservice packaging materials.

“Our aim was to create a valuable reference that delves into best practices for residential composting, especially with certified compostable packaging. Additionally, it offers essential insights on reducing contamination, optimizing communication strategies, and sharing success stories from leading composting programs,” said Natha Dempsey, president of FPI.

The residential composting programs were reviewed based on several criteria, including the effectiveness of education and community outreach efforts, infrastructure and operational logistics, and the presence of robust feedback mechanisms, all within the context of state and local policies related to food waste management and diversion goals.

The study’s findings highlighted the advantages of including compostable foodservice packaging in residential composting programs to increase the collection of food waste for composting. By accepting packaging, residents are no longer required to separate food remnants from their containers. This solution allows for the convenient and simplified disposal of both packaging and food scraps into compost collection bins, streamlining the process and reducing the likelihood of contamination.

The study also reveals how programs can take a systemic approach to their operations’ design and implementation to improve organic waste recovery and minimize contamination. Starting with small-scale initiatives, such as a pilot program or a streamlined list of acceptable materials, communities are able to refine processes gradually, building experience and resources over time.

There were several strategies employed by the programs that effectively reduced contamination in the residential composting stream. For instance, continuous monitoring of packaging’s impact within the waste stream is crucial for identifying improvement areas. Clear and consistent messaging about accepted materials, reinforced by broad stakeholder engagement, helps maintain program integrity and mitigates contamination risks. Proactive feedback techniques like lid-flips and waste characterization studies offer valuable insights into compost bin contents and prevalent contaminants. Furthermore, many programs have integrated certification requirements for compostable products and adopted monitoring technologies as key strategies to achieve a high-quality stream for composting.

The full report is available for download on FPI’s website at: FPI Composting Programs & Foodservice Packaging Case Studies.

In 2019, the Henderson County Solid Waste Division launched a pilot composting program across six elementary schools within the Henderson County Public School District, involving nearly 2,800 students. Students actively participated in sorting their lunch waste into designated trash and compost bins. The program aimed to reduce the amount of food scraps that would be destined for the landfill, and instead divert those nutrient-rich food scraps for composting. In addition to food scraps, the county’s school composting program includes items like compostable paper trays, containers and napkins. The inclusion of these compostable items in the program assists in capturing more food scraps into the compost collection containers and further reduces quantities of landfilled packaging material.

To support this effort, Henderson County Solid Waste and Henderson County Schools partnered with the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI), the trade association for the foodservice packaging industry in North America, plays an active role in the recovery of foodservice packaging items. Today, FPI and Henderson County Schools are excited to share the success of the initiative, highlighting the significant strides made in waste diversion within the school community.

“The pilot composting program diverted 38.27 tons in 2021-2022 and 47.64 tons in 2022-2023. However, some non-compostable items were mistakenly included, while compostable items like fiber trays and napkins were discarded,” explained Robert Rolfe, Henderson County Public Schools Director of Child Nutrition. “Partnering with FPI has helped us reinforce handling protocols for organics and packaging, streamlining an effective program for students and staff.”

To assist the schools in engaging their facilities staff, teachers, and students to adopt new habits, FPI provided Henderson County Schools a communications grant that was used to provide crucial support throughout various stages of the program. Initially, the grant facilitated the creation of training materials for cafeteria and custodian staff. Back-of-house training and over-bin signage were implemented to ensure that those integral to the program understood the importance of proper waste sorting.

As the program evolved, FPI’s communications grant expanded its support to engage students and teachers directly. This included the development of a Teacher Training Guide, over-bin signs in the cafeteria with kid-friendly messaging, and vibrant stickers for kids designed to inspire active participation in waste diversion. The stickers featured a “Super Sorter” superhero theme to inject an element of fun into the educational process. Some schools also plan to introduce creative elements, such as compost pledge walls and colorful trackers, showcasing the school’s progress towards their contamination reduction goal.

“We were excited to partner with Henderson County Solid Waste and Henderson County Public Schools in FPI’s first school composting partnership to boost their composting program,” said Natha Dempsey, president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute. “The school district’s success demonstrates that a well-designed composting program for food scraps and packaging can offer a significant opportunity to reduce materials going to landfills while educating students about the importance of waste diversion.”

Through these communication interventions, both students and staff have the knowledge to accurately sort their waste. FPI worked with Henderson County to conduct a waste audit prior to the partnership launch and a second audit this spring to characterize the types and quantities of different materials now being captured in the separate streams. This information will yield insights into additional approaches that might further underpin program performance. Analysis of the results from the second audit is currently underway.

Henderson County Public Schools is committed to perpetuating the success of the county’s composting program pilot, placing a continued emphasis on integrating compostable foodservice packaging items into their waste diversion efforts. Henderson County Solid Waste funds the program and oversees the collection and management of the school district’s food waste, including its transport to a county-run compost facility. To learn more about Henderson County’s sustainability initiatives, please visit: HCRecycles.org.

Today, the NextGen Consortium, an industry collaboration managed by the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, joined the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI) in announcing a major milestone in paper cup recycling in the U.S. Multiple paper mills, from Georgia to Wisconsin, have announced that they will now accept single-use polyethylene (PE)-coated paper cups in bales of mixed paper or polycoat cartons and aseptic packaging. This brings the total number of North American mills accepting paper cups to more than 40, marking significant progress as demand for recycled fiber content grows in the U.S., amidst increasing sustainability commitments and policy tailwinds. The new mills to accept cups include Newman and Company, Inc., Philadelphia, PA; PaperWorks Industries, Wabash, IN; Resolute Forest Products, Menominee Mill, MI; Greif Mill Group in Austell, GA and Milwaukee, WI, among others listed in FPI’s end market map.

Every year, an estimated 250 billion cups are used globally—the majority of which end up in landfills after a single-use. Historically, paper cups had been deemed ‘unrecyclable’ because of their plastic lining, resulting in low recovery rates and valuable materials ending up in landfill. In recent years, as mills compete for diminishing supplies of newspapers and office paper in the recycling system, there has been growing interest in opportunities to recover material categories that contain high-quality fiber, such as paper cups. Many mills––especially new and retrofitted builds––have undertaken repulpability studies to determine whether they can successfully recover the valuable fiber from coated paper packaging, such as fiber cups, for use in recycled fiber products. Positive outcomes of the studies have led to higher acceptance of fiber cups at mills. According to FPI, the dozens of paper mills that now accept paper cups in mixed paper bales represent more than 75 percent of U.S. mixed paper processing demand.

By accepting recovered paper materials, including cups, and reprocessing them into new products, mills play a pivotal role in advancing the larger paper cup recovery process. As more mills effectively recover fiber from paper cups, cup recycling is incentivized further upstream in materials recovery facilities (MRFs) and communities looking to improve their waste diversion efforts. While only 11 percent of communities in the U.S. officially accept cups in their residential recycling programs today, the increasing number of mills that accept cups signals a greater opportunity to grow cup recycling efforts.

“Alongside advancing reuse and material innovation, strengthening paper cup recovery and recycling is critical to keeping cups from going to waste in landfills,” said Kate Daly, Managing Director of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners. “Paper mills play a critical role in strengthening end markets for cups. By pulling materials through the system, mills accepting cups can drive increased cup processing in recycling facilities and cup collection in communities. We are thrilled to see cup recovery reach this important milestone in the United States, moving us closer to a waste-free future.”

For several years, the NextGen Consortium and Foodservice Packaging Institute have collaborated to strengthen existing materials recovery and recycling infrastructure to recapture more paper cups. Both organizations have released critical reports and research to guide paper cup recovery and recycling, such as NextGen’s report Closing the Loop on Cups and FPI’s White Paper on the The State of Paper Cup Recycling. While the challenges are significant, collaboration among various stakeholders involved in paper cup recovery can help address its scale and complexity.

“We are thrilled to work with a growing set of mills in their efforts to recover poly-coated paper cups,” says Natha Dempsey, President of FPI. “Reliable and responsible end markets for cups catalyze new opportunities for community partnerships, especially in regions that previously didn’t have the capability to recycle them.”

“The mix of recovered paper we receive has changed dramatically over the last several years, now including much more plastic that we have to separate in the repulping process. Paper cups contain good fiber and are no more difficult to recycle than many of the other prominent packaging categories we see today. We look forward to the value it will bring to our outputs at our mills in Austell, GA and Milwaukee, WI,” said Jeff Hilkert, VP Paperboard Sales of Greif Mill Group.”

In addition to working with the mills that are now accepting cups, the NextGen Consortium and FPI continue to work with several other interested mills to run studies that can help determine the viability of paper cups in their system. Furthermore, they are also working with groups up and down the value chain––including brands, MRFs and communities––to ensure more cups can be recycled, especially where viable and robust end markets exist. This collaborative work is a key step forward in increasing the supply of recycled content to meet growing demand, and reducing the amount of valuable materials being sent to landfill.

About the NextGen Consortium
The NextGen Consortium is a multi-year consortium that addresses single-use food packaging waste by advancing the design, commercialization and recovery of food packaging alternatives. The NextGen Consortium is managed by Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy. Starbucks and McDonald’s are the founding partners of the Consortium, with The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo as sector lead partners. JDE Peet’s, Wendy’s and Yum! Brands are supporting partners. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is the environmental advisory partner. Learn more at www.nextgenconsortium.com.

About the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners

The Center for the Circular Economy is the innovation arm of Closed Loop Partners, a firm at the forefront of building the circular economy. The Center executes research and analytics, unites organizations to tackle complex material challenges and implements systemic change that advances the circular economy. The Center for the Circular Economy’s expertise spans circularity across the full lifecycle of materials, connecting upstream innovation to downstream recovery infrastructure and end markets. Learn more about the Center for the Circular Economy at closedlooppartners.com/the-center/

About the Foodservice Packaging Institute

Founded in 1933, the Foodservice Packaging Institute is the trade association for the foodservice packaging industry in North America. FPI promotes the value and benefits of foodservice packaging and plays an active role in advancing the recovery of FSP to support the circular economy. The association serves as the industry’s leading authority to educate and influence stakeholders. Members include raw material and machinery suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and purchasers of foodservice packaging. For more information, visit www.FPI.org.

The 15th annual Trends Report from the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI) reveals the industry experienced a noticeable slowdown with the stagnation of orders and slower purchasing up and down the supply chain.

“Despite the uncertainty, the 2023 Trends Report did show bright spots. Respondents reported international shipping costs have gone down allowing for easier import and export experiences,” said Natha Dempsey, president of FPI.  “Another positive finding is that timelines for equipment have eased, although they can remain lengthy for in-demand machinery. And, as marketplace shifts continue post-COVID, respondents reported increased purchasing of foodservice packaging through e-commerce.”

Demand for operators that cater or service office environments has rebounded but reports show that full-time in-office attendance is still far below 2019 levels. With so much of the workforce in a flexible or hybrid state, dayparts have also become fluid, serving consumers meals or snacks when and where they want them.

Operators are reporting post-pandemic shifts in several areas, particularly with inflation. “Consumers have been hit hard in the wallet, leading them to look for the best bang for their buck.” said Dempsey.  “This has led to a rise in meal deals with a nostalgic twist — taking consumers back to better days, even if the price tag reflects current conditions.”

As inflation continues to impact consumers, service fees become a larger burden, leading to a shift away from delivery toward takeout. The survey also shows there’s been such a shift to takeout that operators are moving to smaller format, smaller footprint locations with an emphasis on drive-thru, to-go and delivery.

Policy continues to be top-of-mind for the respondents with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) discussions being most prevalent. Legislation, specifically EPR, was the number one topic brought up in the survey.

For 15 years, the Trends Report has provided FPI’s reflection on the latest industry happenings. This annual survey collects opinions from companies throughout the foodservice packaging supply chain, including raw material and machinery suppliers, packaging manufacturers, distributors and operators.

The first section of the report compiles direct comments and insights by industry respondents. The second section provides high-level trends in the foodservice packaging industry based on FPI staff analysis of member submissions, as well as FPI’s general industry observations.

The 2023 Trends Report is available to FPI members. Non-members may view an executive summary on FPI’s website. Please contact Ashley Elzinga at aelzinga@fpi.org for more information.

The Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Management District (SWMD), serving over 121,000 households in Geauga and Trumbull counties in Ohio, received a $50,000 grant from the Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC). The grant enables nearly 300,000 residents in both counties to recycle materials such as foam polystyrene cups, plates, bowls, clamshells, egg cartons and meat trays, as well as block packaging foam.

Aided by Representative Diane Grendell, Ohio House District 76, additional funding was provided by the State of Ohio to support the program’s creation and initial implementation.
The FRC grant assisted with funding the purchase and installation of a foam densifier, used to compact foam products into foam blocks or ingots. The district sells the foam ingots to end markets to be manufactured into thermal insulation panels for foundations, walls and roofs, as well as picture frames and crown molding.

Residents of the 56 communities making up Geauga and Trumbull counties can take their polystyrene foam to both the Trumbull County facility, as well as the new facility in Geauga County, where it will be processed through the foam densifier. The district is evaluating the option to expand foam collection to its existing Trumbull County facility and transport the materials to the Geauga facility for processing.

“The new Geauga collection facility is the culmination of over five years of planning and efforts from residents, community officials and county government,” said Jennifer Jones, director for Geauga-Trumbull SWMD. “Over 6,800 residents have already taken advantage of our recycling services there, and adding foam recycling will only enhance our ability to meet the needs of Geauga and Trumbull County residents. Foam recycling has been highly requested and will be a great addition to the year-round offering at both of our collection facilities.”
Geauga-Trumbull SWMD will inform residents about the addition of foam polystyrene recycling via communications, including a website, social media, press releases and local media coverage, along with a group email to preregistered attendees of collection events, signage at the community drop-off sites, flyers and short videos.

“It is encouraging to see the passion of Geauga-Trumbull residents and the efforts of the solid waste management district to find ways to improve and increase recycling in their communities,” said Natha Dempsey, president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute. “We are proud to support the diversion of foam polystyrene, a valuable material, from the landfill.”

The grant is made possible through contributions to FRC, which focuses exclusively on increased recycling of post-consumer foam polystyrene. Its members include Americas Styrenics; Chick-fil-A; CKF Inc.; Dart Container Corp.; Dyne-A-Pak; Genpak; INEOS Styrolution America LLC; Lifoam Industries, LLC; Pactiv Evergreen; and Republic Plastics.

Geauga-Trumbull SWMD is the 33rd grant recipient to receive FRC funding since 2015. Over 10 million additional residents in the U.S. and Canada can recycle foam polystyrene because of FRC grants. Visit www.RecycleFoam.org to learn more about foam recycling, read about previous recipients or apply for a grant.