Ensuring that “Compostable” Doesn’t Include PFAS
During the pandemic, many students have been receiving to-go school lunches that are served on single-use compostable molded fiber. K-12 schools thought they were doing the right thing by purchasing compostable foodware—not knowing that they contained toxic PFAS chemicals that leach into children’s food. CEH will never stand by and watch children being exposed to chemicals that cause irreversible harm during their developmental years. Starting in 2017, we tested foodware products and found PFAS in molded fiber take-out containers and school lunch plates. Using this data, we partnered with the Compost Manufacturing Alliance to remove PFAS-containing products from their list of certified compostable items. Now schools will not be tricked into purchasing compostable products that contain PFAS.
Coming Soon: GreenScreen Certification
We are combining CEH’s partnerships with large purchasers with Clean Production Action’s (CPA) respected tool for evaluating chemical hazards to transform the $19 billion global disposable foodware market. The CEH/CPA GreenScreen Certification, currently in its pilot stage, will subject products to rigorous scientific assessment with testing for priority toxic chemicals, and ultimately push manufacturers to shift toward healthy solutions. We saw the need for a third-party certification that can help purchasers not only identify products without PFAS, but also avoid regrettable substitutes with a tool that applies pressure on the supply chain to eliminate the toxic chemicals altogether. Once our certification is launched publicly in 2021, CEH will build upon our proven track record of collaborating with change agents in institutions to have purchasers demand and buy GreenScreen Certified single-use foodware. Like we have seen with past endeavors (i.e., flame retardants, lead, etc.), we are confident that this will force manufacturers to create products that contain inherently safer chemicals.
“Without the expertise that CEH provided regarding toxicity in our compostable foodware products, we would not have been able to make such significant strides in increasing the sustainability of those contracts. CEH staff have been crucial to our sustainable purchasing progress.”
- Melissa Peck Environmental Specialist, Sustainable Materials Management Unit of the State of Minnesota