Guest writer for Film Biz Recycling, Shannon E. Schaefer of
EcoSet Consulting, LLC, writes of her experience. Amazing!
11.1 Tons of Waste, Diverted
Last fall I had the honor to work on the Coen Brother’s latest feature film, “A Serious Man”. Throughout the 44 day shoot, and with the support of FOCUS Features we were able to divert 11.1 tons of set waste. Nearly 80% of the 14 tons of trash produced on set did not end up in the incinerators of Minneapolis, Minnesota. How? It was simple. We composted.
We recycled as well. But in the end, recycling our cardboard, bottles and cans accounted for less than one ton (6%) of our total set waste. This low percentage is in part because we provided reusable bottles and water stations, limiting the amount of plastic on set. Plastic water bottles were not totally banned, but the availability of water stations prevented over 10,000 plastic water bottles from being used. Not bad.
What about other 74% of our trash? We returned 10.3 tons of the set waste to the earth, via the age-old practice of composting.
Composting is fantastic. The sheer amount of set waste it can convert to “black gold” puts our old environmental “recycling is good enough” mantra to shame. We were able to compost virtually ALL of our catering and craft service waste: fruit, veggies, meat, bones, dairy, sugarcane plates and bowls, paper and corn cups, corn utensils, and paper napkins. Basically anything that was once an animal or a plant is now compost.
Our compost site wasn’t just any farmer’s pile. With the help of non-profit Eureka Recycling and local hauler Boone Trucking, we sent all of our plant and animal based waste to a commercial composting site. Commercial sites are different than a traditional backyard compost pile because they are well monitored and reach a much higher temperature, thus allowing us to compost alternative “plastic” products such as corn (PLA) cups and utensils.
Compostable vs. Biodegradable and Landfills
There is a common misconception about compostable and biodegradable products and what actually happens when you throw them away. With the rising popularity of “green” caterers and events using the alternative disposable products (corn/potato-ware, etc) I would like to take a moment explain what this actually means for the environment.
Biodegradable material is capable of being completely broken down into carbon dioxide, water and biomass with the aid of microorganisms. Compostable material biodegrades, but only under specific conditions – for example, the regulated high temperatures of a commercial composting site.
All of the PLA (polylactic acid, usually made from corn) products biodegrade only in high temperature compost conditions. Some potatoware and bagasse plate/bowl products (bagasse is the fibrous material leftover after sugarcane juice is extracted from its stalk) may biodegrade more readily, but do so fastest when in a controlled compost environment.
These organic based disposable products are a good alternative to plastic, which can take hundreds of years to decompose. It is also favorable that often they are produced in a more sustainable fashion than their plastic counterparts. But this is where the green party ends. When you throw your corn fork in the trash it goes to a landfill and as it breaks down it produces the same green house gas, methane, as any other garbage. Not only that but the organic acids produced in the biodegradation process create a toxic heavy metal leachate. Who would have thought corn to be so foul?
When the same PLA fork gets commercially composted, hydrolysis and microbial action breaks it down into carbon dioxide and water. Better? Yes. Perfect? No. There is no “best practice” when it comes to disposable products. There is still much debate about the sustainability of corn products such as PLA as well as other alternative goods. For now, it’s a step away from plastic and in the right direction. If you really want to be sustainable, use reusable flatware. If that is not an option, compost!
Start Composting on Set
Implementing composting takes a little effort, education and planning, and the resources are not everywhere yet. But demand brings supply. Please support your local haulers and commercial compost sites as well as the craft service and caterers who are attempting to “go green.” If the implementation of one new system was able to bring the Coen Brother’s set to 80% waste diversion so easily, I believe one day all film production sets could be at 100% zero waste. That is when filmmaking will start to become truly sustainable.
Shannon E. Schaefer
EcoSet Consulting, LLC
EcoShannon@gmail.com
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