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:
December 17, 2013
Time of Meeting:
3:30 – 5:00 PM
Address of Meeting:
City of Ann Arbor, City Hall, 301 E Huron Street
Basement A+B Conference Room
Washtenaw Food Policy Council attendees:
Nicole Chardoul, RRS and WFPC Chair
Additional attendees (first and last names):
Public comment (first and last names):
Note taker:
Agenda:
Abby Lemmon, City of Ann Arbor
Tom McMurtrie, City of Ann Arbor
Jeff Krcmarik, Washtenaw Co.
Noelle Bowman, Washtenaw Co.
Daniel Stevens, BGreen
None
Abby Lemmon
1. 3:30-3:35 pm
Approve Minutes (attached) and Agenda - All
2. 3:35-3:40 pm
General Announcements
- All
3. 4:55-5:00 pm
Set 2014 Meeting Dates, Discussion/Adjourn
4. 3:40-3:50 pm
PAT Chair/Co-Chair nominations/voting - All
5. 3:50-4:00 pm
Report on FAQ research
- What products are made from the #3-7 mixed plastics from the AA MRF? Tom
- Share latest FAQ - Nicole
6. 4:00-4:45 pm
Review and gather feedback on draft policy/ordinance
- County’s Purchasing Policy requiring the purchase of reusable, compostable
and recyclable products – Nicole/Noelle
- Ordinance language for city/township adoption of PS ban – Nicole/Noelle
7. 4:45-4:55 pm
Review Policy Framework/add Action Items
Date minutes approved:
Meeting Minutes:
1) Started at 3:39 pm
2) Approve November Minutes - Moved by Tom McMurtrie, seconded by Noelle Bowman, approved
unanimously
3) General Announcements
a. Expanded Food Waste in City of Ann Arbor effective 2014 passed – all curbside customers
i. WeCare will be grinding compost on a daily basis, requires equipment upgrades.
ii. Free Kitchen Catchers to curbside compost customers; cart prices reduced to $25
b. Schools may start to use compostable lunch trays in September 2014
i. Daniel looking to raise $50,000 (difference in cost between styrofoam vs. compostable)
ii. Next meeting – review cost model and add compostable trays to our cost model of
styrofoam versus reusable/washable trays
4) PAT Chair nominations
a. Nominations: Noelle Bowman, Jeff Krcmarik, Nicole Chardoul. Jeff and Nicole respectively
decline due to other obligations,
b. Vote – all in favor of Noelle. Congratulations, Noelle!
5) Meetings for 2014 – continue to be third Tuesday of every month
6) What are made from the baled #3-7 plastics?
a. Tom will look into this further
7) FAQ: Food Service-Ware and Packaging
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
a.
8)
9)
10)
11)
First priority for food serviceware: reusable; second priority: compostable; third priority:
recyclable
i. PLA made with GMO
1. There are not very many compostable options that are non-GMO, at least not
yet.
2. PLA liners are the only PLA product that can be guaranteed GMO-free
3. Bagasse is not sustainable; takes a long time to biodegrade
4. Nicole to talk with Barbara Lucas about the GMO issue - if we do not allow PLA,
then we are promoting paper-based products that have a large environmental
footprint.
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) – County policy
i. Support purchase of products that do not have adverse effects on environment and
public health
ii. Replaced “bio-based” with “compostable” in EPP list
iii. Add definitions of biodegradable, certified compostable, compostable, degradable, etc.
iv. Eliminate non-compliant products by 2015
v. Percentage of food purchased locally – 20%?
1. Within 100 miles
2. Michigan made; regional
3. Need to review with Joanna as the local food details is her area.
vi. Recycled-content paper or tree-free paper products
vii. Will present proposed changes to county EPP/Purchasing Policy at full council meeting
on January 8th.
Draft Language for adoption by the municipalities of Washtenaw County
a. Are there purchasing policies in the Ann Arbor Solid Waste plan? Tom will look into it.
b. Goal: to encourage the use of sustainable products
c. Make it clear that just because something is biodegradable does not mean that it is compostable
d. What about straws, cup lids, cutlery, etc? Took exception out of draft language. Also removed
mention of unprepared foods containers to prevent confusion.
e. Added commissary to food provider definition
f. Recyclable products – just because something is collected does not mean that it is actually
recycled (i.e. #6 plastic does not have markets but is still collected curbside)
g. Prohibiting use of expanded polystyrene or ALL polystyrene? Change to all PS.
h. Took “non-recyclable” definition out of draft language
i. Added PP to reusable food serviceware list, remove it from the preferred recyclable list because
it has a large environmental footprint unless it is reused.
Next Meeting on: January 21, 2014
Meeting adjourned 5:24 pm