How About A Burger And Some Renewable-Resource Packaging With Those Fries?
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 07.25.08
It's the uncoated paper that makes this Burgerville carbon bomb compostable. Photo Jake of 8bitjoystick @ flickr
Fresh. Local. Sustainable. That's the Burgerville tag line, and while some people might take issue with the whole idea of sustainable burgers (in the famous cheeseburger video by Jamais Cascio a burger is basically a carbon mini-bomb), Burgerville seems to be putting some pretty cool best-practice ideas out there for the rest of the fast-food industry. And the food, while not as cheap as a Mickey D's or Taco Bell, is really tasty. Best strawberry, blackberry and marionberry shakes anywhere, ever.
Fast food nation, recycled
Burgerville (39 stores based only in the Pacific Northwest) wants to eventually keep 85 percent of its waste out of the waste stream via source reduction, recycling and composting. Their big innovation has been to start a complete evolution toward renewable resource packaging - PLA Natureworks salad dishes and cutlery, shake and drink cups, and breakfast "platters," as well as uncoated paper to wrap the burgers and as platter liners. That doesn't mean that the empties from your milkshakes can be composted...not yet. But yesterday at one trial store in Portland at 85th and Gleason Streets, Burgerville sustainability coordinator Amaranth Wilson previewed what she is calling the "dining room sort system" to allow patrons to dump their compostables in one large green container, their recyclables in a blue container and their landfill trash in a bin black bin. "It was great," she said. "We were taking people through it and they really seemed to be getting it."
Cheaper to compost
Burgerville currently generates 340 tons of waste monthly. Composting through the City of Portland's restaurant waste recycling program is cheaper than the cost of garbage removal, so there's a big business case for compost. According to the company approximately $100,000 would be saved yearly if all the restaurants fully comply. Wilson hopes to roll the dining room sort system to other stores as they are ready - she says it only takes a couple of months to recoup the costs of the bins by waste reduction and increased composting. In addition, Burgerville is introducing napkin and paper towel dispensers that encourage one-per-person usage. Via ::Burgerville.com
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Great post and great props to the best of Fast Food here in the NW... One correction its on 82nd and Glisan. Nit pickey but ya know.
Also worth pointing out that they use local ingredients and they serve special items when they are in season. Rather than have fresh Strawberry milkshakes (which are awesome) year round importing berries from who knows where. They have them for a few months in the summer when they are in season in the NW. Their beef is pasture raised from Oregon farms. They provide decent wages, health care and other benefits for their employees AND they buy local green power and they recycle their grease into biodiesel...
Okay I love Burgerville... :-) MMMMM
(not employed by Burgerville)
No matter how much tofu you eat, every now and then a burger is just really good. Burgerville's hard to beat.
Technology has already moved beyond the solution in the article.
Biotec has launched the Bioplast TPS which is 100% vegetable matter (potato flour) and, as a result, it is edible, digestible, water soluble and fully biodegradable. Its performance equals current common use fast food containers.
And you can take it home to your compost pile.
( http://www.biotec-distribution.eu/EN/bioplast_tps.html )
It would be great for all the styrofoam overpackaging of meat and vegetables in supermarkets too (which aren't recyclabe even though most people add them to the plastic pile).
Burgerville has a great initiative and is an example but one must keep up with what are the best alternatives out there.
Sorry, but ALL cattle are so horrendously damaging to the environment on so many levels that any one who eats beef and purports to be environmentally-conscious is delusional.
Grassfed beef produces more GHG than feedlot beef and is only marginal better in other aspects.
-----author replies-----
Scott, can you please quote sources on the idea that grass-fed beef produces more methane? I'd like to follow up on that.
I agree with the comment about Bioplast TPS, but you forgot Wrap 100, this is also made by Biotec www.biotec.de and distributed by it's 50% share owners Stanelco PLC www.stanelcoplc.com and Sphere S.A www.sphere.eu
Wrap 100 keeps moisture and oil in whilst letting water vapour out, so it is great for wrapping hot greasy food like burgers and hot dogs. It is also great for wrapping at the deli counter, cold meats, cheese etc.
Also check out the Aisacan, it is now available in Bioplast from Biotec, for about a 75% lower CO2 emissions, and about a 75% lower energy used in manufacturing, great for all types of beverages! www.aisacan.com
-----author replies ------
I was hoping Amaranth Wilson might reply - I think I should have said that this is the first part of Burgerville's transition and they are eagerly looking forward to other options for packaging.
April
Here is one source discussing the methane- grassfed link.
http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/16-06/ff_heresies_03organics
The primary mechanism is that methane is produced by bacteria during the process of breaking down cellulose into glucose. This pathway is bypassed in the grain diet.
Great feedback. Regarding the comments about Biotec creating packaging that will biodegrade, thanks for the tip, we continue to research new solutions and see our current choices as the first steps.
When switching from clear plastic materials to plant based packaging, the best solution we have found for now is the clear PLA. This is a first step for us, in the evolution of plant based packaging and will continue to evolve so that we can create cradle to cradle life cycles for all materials.
We also are using materials made from sugar cane fiber, that are completely biodegradable and can be home composted.
We are implementing reduction in our paper products and sourcing more post consumer content recycled paper. Most of our paper food packaging is biodegradable.
In regard to the comment about the way cattle are raised, these are complex issues. I have learned in my work that big picture thinking is best.Those that choose to eat beef can take a conscious part in the life cycle of the cattle grown, the investment in the small ranching families that grow the cattle and the preservation of higly valuable land that supports these cows and their families and the other creatures who take part in this life cycle.
I will be visiting one of the small ranching families that grow Country Natural Beef, the beef Burgerville buys, in Eastern Oregon this week.
I love Burgerville!
I disagree that the very existence of cattle is ant-environment. While we may have too many cattle and may, in general, have livestock management practices that are harmful to the environment, cows--and people eating beef--aren't necessarily the crux of the problem.
Companies like Burgerville--and those of us who choose to purchase from them--help create a market and demand that will ultimately lead other businesses and other consumers to change for the better. Each consumer decision and each business decision that leads us toward a healthier, sustainable culture is for the best!