I purchased an iced espresso drink on a 90 degree day last month at the Market of Choice on Terwilliger Boulevard and Taylors Ferry Road. The drink was served in something called a compostable corn cup. This is nice, I thought, buying something plastic made out of corn instead of petroleum.
But after doing a little research I found out that corn plastic is not recyclable, can’t be composted in my garden, and may in fact not be the plastic of choice. According to the Metro Recycling hotline, no current recycling method is available for this product (labeled as a #7 plastic, a catch-all for non-recyclable plastics not otherwise labeled). It is not home-compostable, that is it cannot be composted in a home garden or home composter.
The extreme heat of a commercial composting machine is required to break down the material the cup is made out of. According to Metro, the corn cup never actually biodegrades but rather disintegrates into microparticles that do nothing to enhance (or pollute) the soil.
Additionally, the plastic corn cup isn’t likely to break down in a landfill, which I found out is purposely sealed to protect the environment from greenhouse gases and to protect against toxics leaking into the groundwater.
What the Metro recycling folks recommended is that Market of Choice switch to a #2 or #5 plastic cup, "which at least has a chance of being recycled."
According to Scott Cook, sustainability coordinator for Market of Choice, “We made the decision to switch to corn-based plastics (PLAs) about two years ago.”
According to Cook, “PLAs can be only be composted under certain conditions (they need to be shredded and composted in a big, hot, industrial-sized pile), but we feel they are still a better choice overall for the environment, given that traditional plastic containers are petroleum-based.”
“In general, we have received positive feedback from our customers. I agree that using corn is not the ultimate solution, but I am pleased to see some movement in the packaging industry toward more sustainable fiber choices, such as used sugar cane stalks and other grasses.”
After doing away with plastic grocery sacks at check stands in October 2008, Market of Choice has reduced the number of plastic bags reaching the waste stream by 360,000 in a single year. “We consider that a huge accomplishment, one that could not have happened without the support of our customers,” said Cook.
Cook said the company’s Terwilliger store instituted a successful compost system two years ago as part of “Portland Composts! Businesses Dig It,” a partnership of Metro and the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.
To find out more about the company’s “Eco Efforts” to become more sustainable visit their website at .
www.marketofchoice.com
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