Box of Greenwash

prodLG2When I was at my fave eastside pizzeria recently, they put my leftovers in an earth-friendly looking box. I decided to see if it was compostable. It was called the Bioplus Earth #3, made by Fold-Pak. To give the product even more credibility, it was endorsed by the Green Restaurant Association, an American national green certification non-profit. I was suspicious because the “leak-proof” box appeared to be lined with some kind of plastic. I dug around on the websites, but found nothing about the lining. I sent the company an email (no reply after 3 days). I asked a colleague who owns a local green packaging company. She told me the product line is made from Kraft paper with a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic lining, a form of polyester. The company does make another line called Terra which is supposedly compostable – but the products are lined with PLA, a plant-based resin or polymer, considered plastic by some commercial composting facilities and therefore not compostable (see my previous post on this issue). The consumer (and possibly the restaurant owner) is being greenwashed here. We need industry standards for these products.

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