Compostable food packaging

 

UTS Food Court

The UTS Central Food Court in Building 2 has compostable food packaging. Setting a new benchmark for Australia, take-away food containers are compostable and bottled drinks are mostly in glass and aluminium. The move is part of UTS’s Plastic Free by 2020 Plan designed to phase out the use of single-use plastics on campus. Well-known brands including PappaRich, Sushi World and Chatime, along with others are switching to compostable food packaging for their UTS outlets and eliminating plastic food containers, bags and coffee cups.  

The food packaging

The compostable packaging is a mix of paper, cardboard, bamboo, sugar cane, PLA and corn starch. Some items like PLA and corn starch look and feel similar to plastic but are actually made from plant-based material. These plant-based alternatives are fully compostable and in a commercial composter break down to form compost, unlike traditional plastic which is made of oil and is not compostable or biodegradable. See more on PLA here

Commercial composting

The compostable food packaging and all food scraps go into a separate waste bin, the maroon bin. Food waste collected from elsewhere on campus, the staff kitchens and cafes, is processed through our own on-site food dehydrator machines on campus.

Food Court bins

The Food Court has three bins, including a bin for food and compostable packaging.

• Food and compostable packaging - all food scraps AND the compostable packaging go in the maroon bin. It is important not to put any plastic products in this bin as they will contaminate the composting process.
• Bottles and drink cans – all drink bottles and cans go in the white bin. The contents of this bin get recycled and any funds generated from the deposit refund are invested back into sustainability projects on campus. Only drink containers eligible under the NSW Return and Earn scheme go in this bin. Check for the deposit symbol on the container.
• General waste – all other items such as soiled paper, chip packets and wrappers, plastic and any other items go in this bin. As with all general waste bins across campus, the contents get sorted off campus, with all recyclable items removed for recycling and the remainder going to landfill. It is important not to put food scraps or compostable food packaging in this bin.

BYO still best

The explosion of ‘disposable’ single-use plastics, especially plastic packaging, has created a big environmental problem. Switching to compostable alternatives is part of the solution, but even these still require resources to manufacture, transport and process. The best solution is always reuse and refill. For this reason UTS encourages all staff and students to carry their own BYO cup, bottle, and lunch box for take away situations. Some keen beans even carry their own cutlery. Of course, some customers have special needs where this may not be practical. But if most of us, most of the time, choose BYO, together our efforts add up to a huge benefit. Helping to create a cleaner, healthier planet for everyone.