Using metal utensils isn't a terrible idea. A lot of hospitals used to have tons of metal medical equipment that they would autoclave on-site. Much of that got replaced with "discard-able" plastic equivalents, because it was cheaper and easier. Now, some hospitals don't even have autoclaves; they use a third-party service for the stuff that still needs it.

And there's nothing stopping them from putting metal utensils in the boxes and leaving some bins of dirty utensils for the morning staff.

it’s so hard to actually compost [and] very little[ ]of it will ever be.

I'm not seeing the difficulty angle on the composting, but I'm learning the labeling on them is both confusing and not-really-regulated (that I've yet seen); and not really validated either way, it seems. Bloody big tip-off that it's shite greenwashing. Argh.

If 90% of the carbon in the test materials had disappeared within six months it was considered compostable.

The results showed there was no specification that was reliably home compostable

bah. Zero fun.

So to make terms like 'biodegradable' or 'compostable' even remotely valuable as terms for packaging, we need inspectors and testers confirming them. Having gone through a series of halfwit governments run by 'small government' platforms (the 'small' is when they shed oversight and safety inspectors, naturally, so their lobbyists can further victimize people for profit), I think we're a long way off.

I'm learning, and I'm correcting my opinions as we go. Thanks for catalyzing that.