Guide to understanding eco-friendly packaging for events

A guide from a sustainably operated Melbourne based event planner

What is the best sustainable packaging solution for events?

So you think selecting sustainable Food and Beverage packaging for your Melbourne based event is what you would like to do, and see the term “eco-friendly”, or spot green bands/font/and symbols, or the description proclaiming to be compostable, Great…..isnt it? Well not always. Each state is different. Each Council is different. Here’s what we can tell you for events based in Melbourne.

Certainly selecting items “eco” made from PLA (plant derived plastics) are a better choice than disposable PVC options of old, such as traditional plastic party cups or polystyrene, but did you know not all eco options add up? Items that are Commercially Compostable are very different to items citing Home Compostability?

So how are they different?

A range of compostable Food and Beverage packaging

Commercially Compostable vs Home Compostable Packaging

How many of us at the end of an event are taking home their food and beverage packaging and ripping it up into our worm farms or compost heaps?  I am sure you can guess the answer to that. So, Home Compostables from your event will essentially need to break down in landfill conditions. This process will take up to 1 to 2 years pending thickness of the packaging, but will eventually become organic matter.

Compostable packaging can be much quicker to decompose than that, but unless these products are collected and sent separately to a Commercial Compostable facility (such as Biopak), they can take over a century to break down as they simply don't reach the temperature required to decompose in landfill. There are very few Commercial Composing facilities in Australia, making this form of ‘eco’, basically adding to landfill the majority of the time. Not as sustainable as you thought right?

Research as much as you can and don’t simply ‘believe’ the supplier information found on the product sales page.  CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA is a great source for further clarification for claims made on packaging and how to recognise greenwashing.

Compostable coffee cups in landfill

Selecting appropriate packaging for events

It's incredibly confusing in the world of food packaging. Here is a guide to help:

Step 1: First you need to select the appropriate vessel for what is being served (for example is the menu hot and saucy and will the packaging leak?). 

Step 2: You need to understand what the product is made from and to correctly handle its end of life. Make sure these items have waste streams that can deal with this selection.

Step 3: You need to rely on your guests knowing which waste stream to put their packaging into, for any of this to work effectively! Why not consider a Bin Concierge to assist guests in making the correct choice?

By adding this service to our LITTLE FOOD FESTIVAL event, we assisted in significantly reducing incorrect guest waste stream, and therefore the post event audit carried out by event partner, VIOLIA.

If one or more of these solutions don't happen, then you are looking down the barrel of landfill, and the systems you have tried hard to put into place will fall over.

So after all of that, what can you do? Here is our advice;

A row of several wheelie bins for various waste streams from Green My Plate and Violia

Budget for reusables at your event

Where possible, or encourage guests to bring their own. Thankfully with services such as B-ALTERNATIVE, BETTERCUP and GREEN MY PLATE, you can eliminate this problem entirely by working with your caterer or food trucks to integrate this service into their offerings.

Understand your venue waste stream

Book additional services to supplement what may not be present. GO ZERO WASTE (was Waste Ninja) collects organic waste from venues or events and along with their waste partners, turn your waste into valuable resources. You can even work with companies such as VIOLIA to compile a waste audit post event, to ensure you have hard data to measure improvements. Speak to the incumbent waste partner attached to the venue or local Council facilities to work out exactly what happens, and how you can better plug holes in the system.

Order packaging that is certified ‘home compostable’

Worst case if planning is not possible or for some reason doesn't go to plan, this packaging will still break down in landfill in a relatively short amount of time and not leach microplastics into the land.

Employ event ‘Waste Concierge’

Help your guests select their most suitable waste stream for items needing to be disposed of, by employing a helper at each waste location. Give them a cheat sheet to assist them with hard facts and clear understanding of what is being served and the best waste solution for it. You could also audit the collection points regularly, as suggested here by CLEANAWAY.

Book hydration stations

Organisations such as WALLOP WATER hire systems with a combination of bubblers and taps, with room under the taps to fill personal water bottles. You could even add a GREEN MY PLATE mug wall as an additional service.

Filling water bottle at hydration station

How do you get help?

Still looking for assistance running your event sustainably? Reach out to the Footprint Group Events team to find out how!