Oakland Coliseum composting program reported successful

Hawthorne, CA— Cereplast, Inc.™ reported that the Company grabbed the attention of attendees and Wall Street alike at the United States Composting Council meeting held in Albuquerque the week of January 23. Cereplast’s vice president, Russell Wegner, reported on the composting program at Oakland, California’s McAfee Coliseum, noting the amount of refuse diverted to composting rather than to landfills, and highlighting the staggering financial success of the program.

Cereplast’s San Francisco office arranged last year for the introduction of biodegradable food service ware at Oakland’s McAfee Coliseum, home of the Oakland Athletics and Oakland Raiders. This historic accomplishment made it the first national stadium in the country to use biodegradable service ware.

To help Oakland’s McAfee Coliseum achieve its goal of becoming a zero-waste stadium, Cereplast was instrumental in creating a partnership between various key participants: StopWaste.Org (Alameda County); Aramark, a national provider of food service; SMG, the Coliseum management company; and the Athletics, all spurred along by California legislation, Assembly Bill 2176, which requires large venues to have recycling programs in place. The combination of all these participants and the use of biodegradable and compostable products made this program not only an environmental success but also a major financial success for the Oakland Coliseum.

The Coliseum’s maintenance director, George Valerga of SMG, stated that he is saving over $100,000 per year on its garbage bill. This is accomplished by diverting the biological components from landfills, and instead, sending food waste, along with biodegradable food service ware, to a commercial composting site managed by Norcal Waste Systems.

Cereplast provided not only Cereplast-made products, but also invited additional biodegradable products to be featured, especially NatureWorks PLA cups. “We believe in teaming up and wanted to make the Coliseum a showcase for the industry. All products were Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) approved, which guarantees the legitimacy of this program,” said Frederic Scheer, Cereplast CEO.

Cereplast, whose main operations are in resin manufacturing, continues to jump-start programs around the country to promote the use of biodegradable and compostable food service ware. New similar programs are in the works both on the West Coast and in New York.