Eco Guardian

Compostable Disposable Products Coming Soon to Healthcare Foodservice

By Andrew Shakman, on June 1st, 2010

Compostable foodservice disposables (such as bagasse plates, PLA cups, potato cutlery, etc.) have received a lot of operator attention in recent years. However, one of the foodservice sectors that has been slower to embrace these products is healthcare foodservice. Why is the case? Perhaps one reason is that at least 30% of the meal volume in a healthcare foodservice operation involves patient feeding. And those specialized meals have historically relied on specific types of single-use items and/or reusable meal delivery systems (manufactured by companies such as Aladdin Temp-Rite, Burlodge, and Dinex). But this could be evolving with the introduction of compostable disposable products designed specifically for healthcare.  Burlodge is the first out of the gate with its Eversio line for patient feeding.   The products — which will be available in September 2010 — include specialized trays, bowls, and cutlery that are BPI certified compostable except for the cutlery pieces. This product introduction will provide U.S. healthcare foodservice operators with new, environmentally-preferable purchasing choices that could reduce the amount of disposable product going to landfills.  It may also spur innovation from other competitors in the market.  Burlodge expects the primary market to be acute care facilities because of “volume and operational savings” although all healthcare segments would see infection control and disaster preparedness benefits. At LeanPath, we believe reusables usually represent a better alternative to disposables.     Yet we fully recognize there are situations where disposables meet a unique operator need, especially in acute care environments.  Burlodge’s product should be an intriguing alternative for those operations. http://blog.leanpath.com/2010/06/healthcare-compostables/