Eps Survey Study 8B
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8B EPS SURVEY STUDY Exploring Use of Expanded Polystyrene Food Ware in Food Service Establishments City of Milpitas, California JULY 28, 2017 Prepared by 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………….3 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………4 Findings / Results………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..7 Appendix 1 Summary of survey responses by question…………………………………………….…..………………11 Appendix 2 Sampling of responses to open ended survey questions ……………………………..…….….……14 Appendix 3 Survey questionnaire in English, Vietnamese, and traditional Chinese………………..………16 Appendix 4 Fact sheet in English, Vietnamese, and traditional Chinese………………………………………….26 Appendix 5 City of Milpitas Business License list of food establishments with businesses surveyed highlighted and validation record……………………………………………………………………………………….……31 Appendix 6 Identification used by field surveyors and photos of surveys in progress ……….……………40 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) is a petroleum-based plastic material commonly used as foam food ware containers in the food service industry. Its chemical properties contain Styrene, a known carcinogen, it is difficult and uneconomical to handle and recycle, especially if soiled by food, and it easily breaks down into smaller pieces, making it difficult to clean up in creeks and catch basins. To address this problem, the City of Milpitas (City) is considering an ordinance restricting the use of EPS foam food ware in its local dine-in and take-out food establishments. The City of Milpitas is under strict State requirements to reduce the amount of trash that ends up in storm drains and our creeks, especially single-use plastic bags and EPS foam food containers. The EPS foam food ware ban would give the City an important credit towards achieving the required trash source reduction goals. July 1, 2018 is the proposed effective date for the EPS foam food ware ordinance. GreenPro Network was commissioned to develop and execute a statistically reliable field survey to determine the use of EPS foam food ware containers among food service establishments in Milpitas. The purpose of the study is to identify economic and operational concerns regarding the proposed EPS ordinance. The goal of the survey and aggregated research is two-fold: 1) Provide information that helps create an action plan to facilitate the smoothest possible transition of the ordinance for food establishments, and; 2) Guide development of resources that address the concerns of food establishment owners and managers affected by the ordinance. This project was implemented within Milpitas city limits and used a standard survey methodology as the primary vehicle for data collection. It encompasses a quantitative and systemized (non-random) selection of food establishments and added a qualitative approach in order to maximize the inferences gathered from the data collected. Of the 367 total establishments relevant to the study, 281 were surveyed between June 28 and July 28, 2017. To summarize results of the quantitative approach, 51.6% of food establishments surveyed use EPS foam food ware for either dine-in or take-out service and almost 48.4% use a recyclable or compostable product. Because of the impressive amount of completed interviews, there is a 95% confidence level and 2.85% confidence interval for this survey. For example, the result that 48 .4% of food establishments do not use EPS foam food ware has a confidence rate of +/- 2.85%. Quantitative strategies were employed to infer key factors for the qualitative results. Consequently, survey responses paint a clear picture of the general sentiment among the local food service community and is supported with reliable data. The results show that EPS foam food ware is used by 51.6% of food establishments surveyed, especially among ethnically owned businesses. We observed a higher incidence of resistance to the ban based on ethnic 3 background of the respondents, which could be a result of a cultural bias. These and other observations are summarized in the Finding / Results section of this report. METHODOLOGY THE RESEARCHER’S ROLE Having experience in how field agent representation affects perceptions, interpretations, and can hinder objectivity, the field surveyors were trained to introduce themselves as a third-party, conducting a questionnaire on behalf of the City of Milpitas. This important distinction had a dual purpose: to provide a level of separation so that the participants responded comfortably to the questions, and; to remove bias and establish an understanding of how the food service community perceived a possible EPS ordinance. Field agents that administered the survey were hired based on past experience with field work of this nature and their individual expertise in translating the questionnaire in their native language(s): Vietnamese, Cantonese and/or Mandarin. The intent here was to establish participant trust in the surveyor. Additionally, the surveyor’s previous experience was instrumental in developing logistics and executing field work in an efficient manner. It served to enhance the comprehension, awareness, knowledge, and sensitivity to the issue and contexts studied. The result of this interaction yielded an unusually high standard of quality data. DESIGN Survey methodology combined quantitative and qualitative approaches using five questions. For quantitative data, this study used a systematic, non-random sample with the objective to interview a minimum of 50% of food establishments with a business license. For qualitative data, this study used three open-ended questions which encouraged individual response to capture true sentiments and ideas from respondents. This combination has become a standard way of collecting data in the social sciences. Each survey question, developed with City staff, has a specific purpose and is detailed in Appendix 1, along with the results of the data collected. Additional comments were paraphrased and used to convey the general attitude of each respective category of food establishments. A paraphrased summary of the additional comments can be found in Appendix 2. The questionnaire was translated and presented in three languages: English, Vietnamese, and traditional Chinese (four were administered in Spanish by one interviewer). GreenPro Network interviewers were able to capture accurate and thorough data from the diverse population that comprises the food service industry in Milpitas. 4 SAMPLING Sampling was determined using a cleaned list derived from the database of business licenses provided by the City of Milpitas. There are 376 food establishments with a business license in Milpitas. After removing 15 corporate-owned businesses that do not use EPS foam containers, and adding 6 gas stations with convenience stores, 367 food establishments remained with possible use of this material. GreenPro Network exceeded the objective of surveying at least 50% of the 367 food establishments by interviewing 281 owners or managers, a total of 76% of food establishments in Milpitas. Figure 1 - Breakdown of respondent sampling by category DATA COLLECTION Data collection was administered, for the most part, in person, Monday through Friday between the hours of 10:00AM and 5:00PM. The data represented here was collected between Friday, June 29th, 2017 and Wednesday, July 26, 2017. This ample three-week window allowed enough time to go back to the establishment a second time when a first attempt was unsuccessful. There were four businesses where the survey was conducted over the telephone because the manager or owner was not available for a face-to-face interview after the second attempt. All phone surveys were conducted in English. Survey participants received a fact sheet (Appendix 4) that outlined the proposed EPS ordinance requirements, product alternatives and process for a grace period. The table below shows the number of interviews that were administered in each language: Language # of interviews % of total surveys English 176 63% Spanish 4 1% Vietnamese 46 16% Chinese 55 20% 5 This project used SurveyCTO to collect and store the data. This online cloud-based server has many features, and allowed us to not only collect detailed meta-data, but also enabled field surveyors to work offline, which meant the work was not interrupted due to lack of wi-fi or cell signal of the tablet or android phone being used. The meta-data collected was especially useful in determining outliers and allowed for real-time monitoring for quality control of the data. The survey’s electronic format used constraints and relevance rules that yielded cleaner data with a high degree of reliability, and thus allowed for reasonable inferences when analyzing the data. It also created an efficient use of field time. For example, if an establishment did not use EPS food containers at all, the surveyor would never see questions regarding impact or how the city could help because they were rendered irrelevant by answering question 1, a yes/no question that determines if EPS food containers are used in their establishment. VALIDATION Validation procedures were developed to ensure the accuracy of the entries and verify that data collected came from the appropriate personnel of a vetted establishment on the list. The person validating individual surveys calls the establishment using the number provided by the surveyor and asks to speak to the person named on the survey. The following script was used: 1. Hi, 2. May I speak with