Are you being served? An examination of chemical risks posed by compostable single-use food service items

Abstract

The banning of single-use plastic food service items has led to a shift towards single-use, compostable alternatives. Globally, decision-makers are grappling with balancing the largely uncharacterised risk of compostable single-use food service items with the potential benefits of diverting additional food waste from landfills. To help close this gap in regulatory understanding, food service items were collected from semi-closed locations that only allow compostable items and analysed for their physical and chemical properties. Collected items represented the broad range of material and item types associated with ‘compostable’ single-use food service items, including food service vessels, straws, cutlery, napkins, sandwich bags and wraps. Analysis determined the likely systematic inclusion of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) across a range of sugarcane bagasse samples with a maximum detected concentration of 86 200 μg kg⁻¹. Additionally, food service item components such as plastic linings and lids were often found to contain common, non-compostable plastics. Findings indicate that at present, single-use plastic item bans have shifted manufacturers of single-use food service items towards material choices that do not possess viable resource recovery pathways. This paper emphasises the need for policymakers to consider likely market shifts and the risks associated with likely alternative materials prior to taking action on single-use plastic items.