At ‘my’ deli the butcher must also change gloves between each order. That’s a lot of plastic too! Belinda
> On Jun 26, 2022, at 12:04 PM, Christopher Eliot <c...@chriseliot.com> wrote: > > I just read a BBC article on plastic waste, > https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61551500 > <https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61551500> > > Much of this is due to food packaging, and I have long wondered about the way > a typical deli counter works. We have been conditioned to ask for deli cheese > and sliced meat expecting it to be cut at the moment and individually > packaged in the amount and style we want. Typically a custom order at the > deli counter is for one pound of product cut to a medium thickness and the > individual choice is mostly just to feel good. > > I’ve watched the process and each stock item is individually wrapped in a > large piece of plastic wrap. This is discarded each time. A sheet of plastic > is placed on the scale for each order, which is then inserted into a plastic > bag with the product. So three pieces of disposable plastic are required for > each deli counter purchase. The process is done carefully and I am sure there > are important sanitation and public health rules mandating a particular > process. > > An alternative is to buy pre-sliced deli items. Often there is a display > where pre-sliced packages can be picked up and taken. I have been conditioned > to avoid this because it isn’t as “fresh” but honestly, it was probably > sliced earlier in the day so there is no significant difference. If the > store is organized it should be possible to prepare a number of packages of > pre-sliced deli items using only one large piece of plastic wrap for the > stock item, greatly reducing that waste. There is another sheet of plastic > used to weigh your individual purchase, but I don’t need it. A single sheet > could be used to weigh an entire batch of product, reducing that waste. > > There would be one plastic bag for each purchase, but only one weighing sheet > and one stock wrapper for each batch of items. I calculate there would be a > 50% reduction in waste if 4 packages are prepared at once, which might be > optimal. Even if two packages are prepared together without re-wrapping the > stock and using only a single sheet to weigh the product there would be a > reduction of 33% in wasted plastic (4 total pieces of plastic vs 6.) > > If 10 packages are prepared at once, I see a 60% reduction in waste and an > 63.33% reduction if 20 package are prepared at once. While processing more > packages at once produces greater waste reductions, it might be hard for a > deli to sell all of those packages in a reasonable amount of time. Achieving > a 50% reduction in waste by preparing four packages at a time seems > reasonable and beneficial. The comparison is 3 * N for individual orders vs N > + 2 items of plastic when N packages are prepared at once. > > I don’t know if sanitation rules allow it to be done this way, but I see a > potential to reduce the plastic waste in the deli department significantly, > assuming people would buy pre-sliced orders and assuming the store was > careful to reduce waste in the preparation of pre-sliced packages. Am I > missing something or is this an opportunity to improve our use of resources? > > Christopher Eliot > Lincoln > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >
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