Chicago airport restaurants must go green, officials say

Just in time for Earth Day on Monday, Chicago officials are moving to make all restaurants at O'Hare International and Midway airports recycle waste, use eco-friendly materials and include sustainable ingredients in at least 20 percent of their food.

The Department of Aviation's recently announced green-concessions policy will affect 248 restaurants and concessions operations at O'Hare and Midway.

Many — such as Nuts on Clark and Fresh Sprigs Salads — have already decided to go green on their own, meeting the Aviation Department's 2-year-old Green Airplane Rating System for Concessions & Tenants voluntarily.

Now, all others will have to go green by the end of this year, meaning all refuse should be recyclable or eligible for compost, Aviation Department officials said.

"I think the biggest thing for them is going to be our packaging requirement," said Amy Malick, the department's deputy commissioner of sustainability. "We are going to ban Styrofoam and plastic. … Everything will have to be compostable."

Right now, about 50 percent of waste generated at both airports is compostable — totaling up to 25 tons per day, Malick said.

But much of the waste can't be converted because it's hard to separate from the plastics and Styrofoam, she added.

"If we can get everyone who's eating salads (to eat) out of a compostable container, then we can recycle a lot more," Malick said.

The new standards come at a time when several large cities are pushing to make their public amenities green and environmentally friendly, experts said.

Although many restaurants, hotels and food operators in Chicago already use environmentally friendly materials and recycle, the city's policy is forward-thinking, said Arthur Weissman, the president of Green Seal, a Washington-based nonprofit that promotes the use of sustainable products.

"We have not actually done a study of airports and their practices, but I do believe what they are trying to do in Chicago shows leadership and is a move in the right direction," Weissman said. "It will send a message to travelers, tourists and even residents that come to the airport that the city government cares about health and sustainability."

The standards will require restaurants to separate waste into three categories: recyclables, compostables and refuse that can't be recycled or composted, officials said. The new policy will also ban petroleum-based plastic bags, trash bags, containers and utensils. It will require all office paper to be 100 percent recyclable.

By 2016, restaurant and concessions owners will also be required to ensure 20 percent of what they offer is made from sustainable food — such as free-range chicken and grass-fed animals and food that is not genetically modified and is free of antibiotics. They will also be required to use green hygiene and cleaning products, officials said.

The department also hopes to keep leftover food at the airports from going to waste, under a plan to push restaurants to donate what they don't sell, to local shelters, soup kitchens and other places around Chicago that feed the hungry.

Right now, Malick said, a majority of prepackaged food is thrown out at the end of the day.

"Very few people are doing it right now," Malick said. "There's just a lack of awareness of how easy it could be. The programs that are available. They basically do everything for you."

By 2016, Malick said, the Aviation Department hopes to be donating all surplus food from the airports.

During the next several months, the Aviation Department will provide training and outreach to all restaurant and concessions owners to help them learn how to comply with the new standards, spokesman Gregg Cunningham said. After that, they'll have to submit a proposal for how they will comply with the new standards.

"By the end of the year, they must all comply … or else face penalties," Malick said. "We're taking it very seriously. This isn't a voluntary kind of a thing."

While it may be expensive for some restaurants to go completely green, the new standards met with little resistance from some of the larger concessions owners.

Candace Johnstone, the district manager for Argo Tea at O'Hare, said her company's brand already incorporates sustainability and care for the environment.

"When O'Hare put out the restrictions, we were pleasantly surprised that we already met many of the requirements," Johnstone said. "We don't use any Styrofoam. Our bags are already 100 percent recycled paper. Right now our customers can throw their items in a trash receptacle or a recycle (bin)."

At Tortas Frontera at O'Hare, many of the restaurants' recycling practices have become second nature to the employees working there, said Yolanda Ruiz, senior food manager for that location and five other stores.

"Now some of my associates and workers follow the same practices at home," she said. "This new policy will give us more knowledge on recycling. For us it is easy."

Long before city officials started pushing their policy, Stephen Miller was transitioning Midway's restaurants and coffee shops in his MAC One Midway Premier Restaurant Group to more sustainable practices, he said. It wasn't easy because some of the more environmentally friendly materials were a little more costly, he said.

"We did it in steps," Miller said. "For many years, we used Styrofoam cups. You can't match the price of Styrofoam. We kept plugging away until we got a product at a price we could bear."

But the trade-off was worth it, Miller said. Now more customers look for and expect sustainable materials. It also communicates a message to travelers and clients that business owners care, he said.

"Every day I learn something new about recycling and going green," Miller said. "That's the thing about the green movement: It's about making a commitment and then improving on it on a regular basis."