Restaurants react to single-use changes in Edmonton
by Iain Ilich
Within days of Edmonton’s Single-use Item Reduction Bylaw coming into force, the local internet community took note.
On Reddit, one poster shared a pic of their haul from Wendy’s, proudly contained within a plastic bucket so as to avoid the additional 15 cent charge that businesses must now levy for a paper bag.
The conversation then veered into a tossed salad of debates on the effectiveness of government-led environmental measures, which chains hadn’t gotten the message, how basic economic theory could be applied to the bag charge, and why it was just as likely that nobody would care enough to bring a bag to save 15 measly cents.
And still, among all the back and forth, one user struck a more philosophical tone. “Sigh. No more bag fries,” wrote 22munchkin.
This is what happens when policy meets the public, when words on paper run up against the reality of what works at a business and consumer level. There have been growing pains, but it hasn’t led to widespread chaos in the food business. Instead, as is often the case, change takes time, people adapt to a new normal and small business owners face different challenges than giant multinationals.
We caught up with a couple of local restaurants to talk about the change, how they’ve fared, and what they’ve thought of the process.
But first, a brief recap of how we got here.
City rules, federal rules
A good deal of the confusion over the new rules came from the fact that both the federal government and the City of Edmonton introduced separate rules for single-use products within less than a year of each other. Each government has a different focus, but the goal is the same: to cut down on the amount of unnecessary single-use packaging that is used once, then tossed.
The federal rules specifically target single-use plastics. They aim for things like plastic straws, plastic cutlery, plastic checkout bags and plastic foodservice ware made from problematic plastic, which the government defines as extruded or expanded polystyrene foam, polyvinyl chloride, oxo-degradable plastics, or plastics that contain the additive carbon black. There are exceptions to the rules, and not all plastic take-out containers are necessarily considered to be made from problematic plastics. But the general spirit of the rule is that plastic is to be avoided, and alternatives should be sought.
The municipal rules from the City of Edmonton are different and they go beyond plastic. The city’s goal is not just to get people to switch from one kind of disposable product (plastic, styrofoam) to another (wood, cardboard, etc.), but to reduce the volume of single-use products overall. This is why the city’s program includes fees for paper bags and a requirement that dine-in restaurants serve drinks in reusable cups. (The city’s website has more detail about the program, what is included, and which exemptions exist.)
It’s been messy. Not all plastics are banned outright, and there are different rules for when a food item is packaged directly in a container. For example, there’s no charge for the bag that holds a donut, but there is a charge for the bag that holds several individually bagged donuts.
New rules meet the real world
Awn Kitchen’s Kaelin Whittaker has embraced the new rules in her south Edmonton café. Even though there were a few folks who didn’t get the memo when the program first launched, most have been good about it.
“You get the odd customer that’s not super keen on it, but for the most part, people are really understanding,” she says. “I would say the trickiest thing is actually napkins. When you serve someone food, they have to ask for a napkin.”
Whittaker’s decision to implement a discount on food and coffee for those who bring their own take-out container has probably helped smooth any potentially ruffled feathers. If you’re looking to grab a soup of a cinnamon bun to go, Awn will give you a 10 per cent discount if you pack it home in your own reusable container.
“I think it’s a great bylaw,” she says, citing the support businesses received from the city, including plenty of advance warning the change was coming, followed by ad campaigns and promotional materials they can use to explain the changes to customers. “I think the city has done quite a good job rolling it out.”
The change aligns with Whittaker’s overall feelings about to-go food culture. “I hate take-out,” she says, matter-of-factly. “Food that’s been in a box, that’s all sweaty, it changes it. It doesn’t showcase what you’ve done with the food.”
She’s chosen to see the change as a potential positive for the café’s bottom line, in that it allows her to promote special pricing for customers who bring their own containers—a move that helps her reduce her costs, not just reduce her environmental impact.
“I agree with the city implementing it for the whole idea of limiting our single-use waste, but then I also think there’s another side of it for business owners with costs increasing,” she says.
“Since we opened, a take-out box for a cinnamon bun is 50 cents, which we can’t obviously add on to our price for a cinnamon bun. I think since we’ve opened, I’d have to go back and look, but I bet there’s been a 20 per cent increase in take-out packaging in general, across the board. Coffee cups, napkins, spoons, straws, pastry bags. It’s all gone up, like everything. There’s definitely a hidden cost to take-out packaging.”
Whittaker’s view is that it’s a win-win-win. A reduction in single-use packaging is good for the environment, good for business, and good for people who believe coffee tastes better in a real mug.
“I’m of the mindset that when we purchase food out or when we purchase coffee out, it should be an experience, and worth taking time to slow down and enjoy it.” She explains, “with people, or even on your own with a book or whatever it might be. So trying to limit the packaging is very much in line with what I believe as a consumer, and a person but also as a business owner.”
Tastebuds, a neighbourhood take-out restaurant in Riverbend that specializes in Indian and Hyderabadi cuisine (try the biryani), has been doing an exclusively take-out business since they opened over eight years ago, so any changes to the way take-out is packaged has a large impact on their business.
“Some people are really happy about it, who really care about the environment, but some people are not,” says owner Masi Mohammed. “But I’m in favour of staying mostly green, so it’s a good move, I would say.”
Knowing the bylaw was going to come into effect in July, Mohammed started to experiment with containers in March, in an attempt to figure out in advance which containers would work best for the kind of food he serves.
“The bamboo or sugar cane fibre ones, they didn’t work for me at all,” says Mohammed. Many of the dishes he serves involve sauces, and those sauces tend to get absorbed into the fibre, which then starts to slowly fall apart. “Some customers even complained that by the time they could take it home, it was just about on the verge of collapsing.”
Mohammed also notes the challenges faced by smaller independent restaurants, such as his, versus those faced by larger chains, who seem able to play by different rules.
“Big corporate giants, even if you go there, you can see that lots of plastic materials and everything that’s really harmful to the environment is being used, whereas the small businesses like mine are being imposed upon,” he says.
“The problem is, I have to bite the cost. Because the containers I am providing right now, they are probably double the cost of what we used to use. But then we can not really impose that, right? The economy is very tight, and people really are very watchful when they’re spending. So even if I try to increase some prices there, they will be upset. As a small business owner, I am taking that hit.”
The change has been a mixed experience, but Mohammed is hopeful. He feels that people should be made more aware of the rules and should be educated more. But he still struggles to get people to pay for the paper bags. “Maybe it will take some time for them to understand,” he says.
Compostable Plastic? Not so fast.
With the influx of new products designed to meet the requirements of both the federal legislation and municipal bylaws around single-use waste, there has been a bumper crop of new plastic items touting themselves as compostable, eco-friendly, or Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) certified. However, just because something may technically qualify as compostable doesn’t mean it can be composted in even a sophisticated municipal waste system.
We reached out to the City of Edmonton to clear the air about what this all means. Here’s what Neil Kjelland, Director of Sustainable Waste Processing, had to say.
Q: Are plastic containers and cutlery advertised as compostable actually compostable in Edmonton?
A: Compostable plastics need very particular composting conditions, including extended periods of high heat and controlled moisture in order to break down. We’ve run tests, and, unfortunately, confirmed that these plastics will not break down in City composting facilities or in the regional composting facilities contracted by the City.
By way of background, the majority of industrial facilities—including ours in Edmonton—compost material between 20 and 35 days, as that’s the length of time required to break down things like food scraps and yard waste. BPI-certified products require composting periods of up to 84 days for the product to degrade. This means that if we were to start composting all material in active composting conditions for 84 days we would need to triple the size of our operations.
Q: Are you aware of any municipal recycling systems in Canada where compostable plastics are actually compostable?
A: We are not aware of other municipalities where the compostable plastics are currently compostable.
Q: What would happen if you tried to put compostable plastic in a home compost bin?
A: The simplest explanation is that they don’t break down. For example, we have found that hard, rigid containers, after being exposed to processing, come out fundamentally intact. The bags are still clearly recognizable as pieces of film plastic, although they aren’t able to be used anymore.
Q: What should people do with their compostable plastic items?
A: The best thing you can do with single-use items, regardless of what they’re made of, is to avoid using them in the first place. Although plastic and compostable plastic bags are permitted for use to contain food scraps in your green cart stream, it’s preferred that BPI products are disposed of in the black cart or garbage stream. Compostable plastic items create contamination in our organic compost and need to be screened and removed.
Q: What happens if people put compostable plastic in with their recycling?
A: Compostable plastic in the recycling stream will usually be removed in the sorting process and sent to landfill. But some may make it through the sorting process and contaminate the recyclable materials that we’re selling to end markets. If you’re in Edmonton, these plastics are best put in the black cart or garbage stream.