Washtenaw Food Policy Council
Policy Action Team Meeting Minutes
Use this form to take minutes at each Policy Action Team meeting. Proposed minutes must be available within eight business
days after a meeting. Approved minutes must be available within five days after the meeting at which they are approved. Send
proposed and approved minutes to Kathy Fellabaum at fellabaumk@ewashtenaw.org
Policy Action Team:
Food and Food Packaging Waste
Date of Meeting:
May 14, 2013
Time of Meeting:
3:30 – 5:00 PM
Address of Meeting:
City of Ann Arbor, City Hall, 301 E Huron Street
Basement conference room
Washtenaw Food Policy Council attendees:
Nicole Chardoul
Additional attendees (first and last names):
Noelle Bowman, Washtenaw County
Jeff Krcmarik, Washtenaw County
Raphael Meyer, UM
Barbara Lucas, WC
Melissa Peterson, NSF
David Sturza, Revalue Waste
Robyn Wardell, FoodCorps
Carina Easley-Appleyard, City of Ann Arbor
Nancy Stone, City of Ann Arbor
Public comment (first and last names):
Note taker:
Agenda:
Date minutes approved:
None
Carina Easley-Appleyard
1) Approve April Minutes
2) Review Take-Out Container Survey
3) Review sample municipal ordinances supporting reusables,
recyclables and compostables
4) Draft PAT recommended ordinance
5) Next Steps
a. Next Meeting: Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 3:30 -5:00 pm
June 18, 2013
Meeting Minutes:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Started at 3:30 pm
Approve April Minutes -- Moved by Jeff Krcmarik, seconded by David Sturza, approved unanimously
Review Take-Out Container Survey provided by Barbara Lucas and Washtenaw County intern
a. Visited various restaurants in Ann Arbor – mostly coffee shops; No Tai, Noodles & Co.
b. Some resistance from staff members to answer questions
c. Lack of educational signage and labeling - There is a large range of containers being distributed but there is
rarely anything that indicates those containers are recyclable or compostable at the business, only 2 had
labeled recycling bins for their customers
d. Noticed there was a lot of contamination in the recycling bins and many recyclables in the trash bins
e. Businesses should advertise if they accept reusable containers (e.g. coffee travel mugs, take-out containers)
f. Bringing own take-out container with you to put your plate leftovers in is not against health code, but you
can’t have the restaurant food put directly into your container or you can use your own container at a
buffet
g. Recommend that businesses are required to educate their staff and customers (i.e. appropriate signage and
staff training; toolkit)
h. Difficult to recommend one type of container over other
i.
Rich & Phel spoke with 15-20 businesses and found some restaurants were paying more or less for the same
container than others; there are so many options being used and there is not much consistency in the
market
Review sample municipal ordinances supporting reusables, recyclables and compostables
a. California polystyrene ban senate bill; cannot distribute prepared food in a polystyrene foam food container
i. Doesn’t include uncooked food e.g. egg cartons, meat, mushroom trays
Washtenaw Food Policy Council
Policy Action Team Meeting Minutes
Use this form to take minutes at each Policy Action Team meeting. Proposed minutes must be available within eight business
days after a meeting. Approved minutes must be available within five days after the meeting at which they are approved. Send
proposed and approved minutes to Kathy Fellabaum at fellabaumk@ewashtenaw.org
ii.
5)
6)
7)
If similar policy adopted by Washtenaw County then would recommend a pilot program and
funding for someone to help audit businesses
iii. If implement a polystyrene ban then this may indicate/encourage other disposable containers are
“okay” to use; however, the use of disposables may be inevitable;
iv. We do not yet have the disposal infrastructures for all businesses/restuarants to use strictly
compostables or recyclables
v. Incentivize using reusable containers
1. City could potentially benefit from savings of reduced residential
trash/recycling/compost pickup by encouraging use of reusable containers
vi. Penalizing businesses for using Styrofoam or other containers is difficult because it requires
auditing/policing resources
vii. Lunch Styrofoam tray program in Ann Arbor Public Schools; could be promoted countywide
b. Reusables vs. compostable containers comparison study
i. Greater energy, water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in using, manufacturing,
producing compostable containers than reusable containers
ii. LCA comparison for 5 different plastics; polypropylene production uses 3 times more energy than
polystyrene, but with multiple uses of the polypropylene reusable container would still have
reduced impact than EPS
c. Waste Free Lunches – Lap Top Lunches, information acquired from the Michigan Recycling Conference;
school in Clinton washed reusable containers in hot soapy water, rinse water, then chlorine
d. Santa Monica, CA – bans non-recyclable plastic disposable food containers
i. Again doesn’t include uncooked food items; egg cartons, meat trays – look into why they are
excluding these foods? Possibly public health related
e. St. Paul, MN – plastic packaging, discusses impact as a health hazard and effecting the waste
stream/environment
i. $50 daily penalty for noncompliance
ii. Environmentally acceptable packaging section includes establishing an advisory committee
f. Could include plastic bag ban in our action team’s recommendations to coincide with styrofoam ban
g. Action team could recommend establishing a “bring your own” campaign; incentives for businesses and
consumers; could be similar to or incorporated with Waste Knot program
h. Sample Washtenaw County Policy language
i. Already internal procurement policy around environmentally preferable packaging (EPP); pretty
generic, can expand and build upon this
ii. Research other policy language by municipalities
Draft PAT recommended ordinance and gain feedback from action team by next meeting June 18th
a. Noelle & Nicole will work on this
b. Focus on Restaurant/Groceries/Food Service sectors
c. Start with Styrofoam ban; incorporate both public health and solid waste issues; businesses, events,
municipalities
i. How to address school lunch trays? Hot food being distributed on trays to students; chemicals can
leech into food, same at restaurants with take-out food
ii. Reusable tray program/company- clean trays delivered, dirty trays picked up and cleaned to be
reused, controlled environment and valuable education pieces
d. Then prioritize other types of containers; reusable first, then recyclable, then compostable later
e. Washable napkins, refillable cups for milk at schools
f. We can recommend to council to support an ordinance; provide sample language
Next Steps
a. Draft PAT recommended ordinance and gain feedback from action team by next meeting June 18th (Noelle
and Nicole)
b. Mapping of restaurants, institutions, cafeterias, grocery stores, compost sites—at a later date.
c. Survey of residents on food waste, containers, etc.?
d. Post action team information, meetings on webpage on County site – Carina will help set up
e. Moving to next initiatives
f. Next Meeting: Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 3:30 -5:00 pm
Adjourned at 5:10 pm