By Karmen Tran
The environment is the pizza boxes at Johnson Center. Blaze Pizza puts all their pizzas and bread in cardboard boxes. The pizza boxes pile up on top of the trash cans in the Johnson Center as customers place them there when they are done eating the pizza.
Pizza boxes cardboard packaging is made from virgin fiber paper, which contributes to deforestation. Pizza boxes that come into contact with grease and natural oil from food are unsuitable for recycling. The grease binds to paper fibers, but the recycling process requires water to break the fibers apart. Grease and water don’t mix well and therefore greasy fibers don’t break down. Therefore, pizza boxes have to be trashed or composted unless the pizza box is clean. Over 3 billion cardboard pizza boxes end up in landfills each year in the United States. It usually takes around 90 days for pizza boxes to break down or biodegrade if properly made (Skip the pizza box: The misfortune of paper in the Fast Food Industry).
George Mason University has a Blaze Pizza in the Johnson Center. Blaze Pizza uses eco-friendly packaging that allows the pizza boxes to be compostable and are made from post-consumer reclaimed materials. George Mason dining is in charge of choosing what type of food is sold on campus to students and faculty. Therefore, it seems like George Mason University can make the difference, but it might be difficult because Blaze Pizza is a corporation (Fast-fire’d custom built artisanal pizzas).
Economic Development and market incentives play a role in Blaze Pizza boxes at George Mason University. Economic Development happens when Blaze Pizzas are sold to customers and profit is given to Blaze Pizza Company and George Mason University. The pizza boxes contain the words “Blaze Pizza” to market the item to consumers and are a marketing strategy.
Solutions to reducing the amount of pizza boxes that end up in landfills at George Mason University and to create a more sustainable way, one way is to partner up with World Centric PizzaRound. World Centric PizzaRound is the first 100% tree-free, compostable, plant-based pizza container that is made from renewable fibers such as bamboo. By using non-timer materials, the forests and nearby communities are protected. Also with a fully compostable container, pizza crust that is leftover can get composted as well (Closing the loop on pizza box waste). Another way to serve pizza, while keeping it sustainable is to use food trays. By placing the pizza on top of parchment paper with a tray below will reduce cardboard boxes by a significant amount. Moreover, give students cardboard boxes if the pizza is being eaten somewhere else besides the cafeteria, and if the students are eating at the cafeteria, give them a tray. Another solution to create a more sustainable way is to have the pizza boxes composted. Composting pizza boxes will reduce landfill waste, create space in waste bins, and provide a carbon compost material to offset “green” ingredients (Nadine, 2021).
The University isn’ currently acting on the issues. However, it seems that it was an issue brought up to George Mason University Senate and possibly the GMU Senate is working on solving the issue.
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References
Closing the loop on pizza box waste: World centric blog. World Centric. (n.d.). https://www.worldcentric.com/journal/closing-the-loop-on-pizza-box-waste
Fast-fire’d custom built artisanal pizzas. Blaze Pizza. (n.d.). https://www.blazepizza.com/
Nadine, A. (2021, November 19). Can you compost pizza boxes? best ways to dispose of used pizza boxes. Zero Waste Memoirs. https://zerowastememoirs.com/can-you-compost-pizza-boxes/
Skip the pizza box: The misfortune of paper in the Fast Food Industry: Greenline Print. RSS. (n.d.). https://www.greenlineprint.com/blog/skip-the-pizza-box-the-misfortune-of-paper-in-the-fast-food-industry