“Taterware Utensils Not Compostable” says Whole Foods in San Francisco 
Written by dinesh • 11 comments.
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Our offices are based in SOMA San Francisco and after picking up a salad at Whole Foods for lunch today, I saw the following sign next to their disposable cutlery – Taterware. If you can’t read the sign it says:
“Dear customers, we have been informed by Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling that the present formulation of Taterware cutlery has not been found to be compostable in the commercial compost program at Jepson Prairie Organics where our compost is currently being sent. The product is not presently acceptable in the San Francisco composting program or in its recycling program.”
First, I’ll say this was not a suprise to me, as Taterware is not certified as compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI). Further, I have reports on my desk from Cambridge Polymer Group which state that Taterware is made up of 73% polypropylene (or plastic).
I imagine though that this will come as quite a surprise to the many business owners & consumers that use Taterware everyday, expecting it to compost in a commercial composting facility.
Something that many folks don’t know is that “biodegradable” does not mean “compostable”, and while Taterware is labeled biodegradable it was never certified compostable.
I am happy to say that our food ware partner, World Centric, uses cutlery that has been 3rd party tested as containing no plastic and is currently under process of ASTM 6400 testing. (Further speaking to the integrity behind World Centric, they share on their website, that they were previously using cutlery which despite being BPI certified and meeting ASTM standards was found to be not fully compostable. They discontinued the corn-resin which was causing the issue and have now had their utensils re-tested and confirmed as fully compostable containing 0% PP).
If you have further questions, there’s a Whole Foods contact (noted in the sign) that you can reach out to. We’ll be reaching out to Whole Foods to see if they’re interested in switching over to World Centric’s compostable cutlery: a mix of 70% non-GMO PLA and 30% talc.
(ps – sorry for the spills on the sign, looks like Whole Foods customers were a bit messy today.)
UPDATE (8/3/2010): Viv Video | “Biodegradable Packaging vs Compostable Packaging – DON’T get Greenwashed”
[...] touched on this news in an earlier blog post where Whole Foods acknowledged that their Taterware forks & spoons are not compostable. So here is some more meat to the story. Third-party testing of samples of the following [...]
It seems that any of these “Taterware”, “Spudware” type potato starch cutleries have the same problem with too much polypropreylene in them. The only biodegradable cutleries that seem to be bona fide use CPLA or PLA (Planet Sugars). Whole Foods own Green Mission program has made several major errors in judgement. In the LA area they started using some bottled water claiming to be 100% biodegradable and it has turned out the claims are totally false. Also some concern growing about possible pathogens in unbleached paperware. “Bleaching” by the way is the industry term for cleaning and washing and has nothing to do with chlorine. It is a process not a ingredient. Example, you can leave a shirt out in the sun and it will become “bleached”……
Jake – It’s a great point on the potato based cutleries. I haven’t come across one yet that is 100% compostable. Also, do you have a link to the whole foods water bottle incident. I’d be curious to read more about that,
dinesh
[...] happened recently with Taterware’s Utensils and unfortunately it’s now happening with Georgia Pacific’s PerfecTouch Hot [...]
[...] by certain manufacturers who are making false claims that their products are compostable (e.g., Taterware and Georgia Pacific), without providing any compostable certification to support these [...]
I was very happy to see this post! we have had a taterware container sitting in our compost for over a year, and it is still intact. Shame on you, “greenwashers”, for not being honest about your product!
There is a great compostable products certification non-profit by the name of the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI). The US FTC, US composting council, BBB, and others rely on them for verification of truly compostable products. Reliable, authentic 3rd party testing which is stringent. Check them out at http://www.bpiworld.org. There is a list of products and manufactures who have done the testing and passed. Great resource.
Hey Jake – Thanks for the comment! We’re definitely big fans of the BPI as well and recommend that all businesses interested in compostables make sure the products they buy are certified by the BPI to make sure they meet ASTM D6400 & D6868.
Dinesh
Can I talk to you on the phone?
I am a public librarian in SF, and I am writing a chapter for a book on green libraries about composting in SF. I have questions!
Thanks,
Melissa Riley
Hey Melissa,
Sure thing. Just give us a ring at 415-625-3848 or drop us an email at Partners@VivBizClub.com and we’ll set up a time to connect,
dinesh
Check out this blog with helpful SF compostable guidelines for acceptable items or visit the compost do’s and don’ts page.
http://blog.recology.com/2010/07/12/compostable-vs-biodegradable-ugh/
http://recologysf.com/residentialCompost.htm