Food service businesses of all types have been using plastic containers with lids for decades. The containers come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and are used as: take out food clamshells, deli containers, water and soda bottles, coffee cups, personal care bottles (e.g., shampoo or body wash bottles), and a great number of food items lining the shelves of grocery stores (e.g., milk cartons, food trays for produce, yogurt cups).

Traditionally, these items have been made from petroleum, but increasingly a new generation of containers and lids are available that are made from renewable resources including polylactic acid (corn), bagasse, paper, and wheat straw. These materials can be used to make food containers and lids that are certified 100% compostable according to ASTM D-6400 and D-6868, and can thus be composted in a commercial composting facility.

So with that, here are:

6 Reasons to Switch from Plastic Containers to Compostable Containers

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First, Styrofoam is a brand name and is a trademark of the Dow Company. The scientific name for the material is polystyrene or expanded polystyrene, often abbreviated EPS. For the purposes of this article however, we will refer to polystyrene as Styrofoam.

Second, when we say that recycling styrofoam shouldn’t be done, by no means are we advocating that you purchase lots of Styrofoam and throw it in the landfill. Actually quite the opposite. What we mean is that you shouldn’t recycle styrofoam… because you shouldn’t be using it or buying it in the first place.

Reasons why you should never use Styrofoam

1. Your Health – The primary chemical component of polystyrene is…drum roll – styrene. Studies have shown that over time small amounts of styrene can leak into your food & beverage – particularly hot food and beverage. If you’re a frequent drinker of coffee for example, drinking 3 a day in polystyrene cups, you could consumer as much as an entire cup of ‘styrene’ over the course of a 3 year period. Styrene is also noted as a possible carcinogen by the EPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer and studies suggest that it is a disruptor of normal hormone functions and may be linked to (more…)