Update Study of Disposable vs Permanent Mess Gear on Board Navy Ships.

摘要

The purpose of this report is to update a 1968 technical report (1) and a complementary 1969 technical report (2) on the feasibility of substituting disposable mess gear for permanent mess gear on board Navy ships. Both prior reports found that a disposable mess gear system for Navy ships appears feasible, practical, and cost effective, and should reduce manpower costs by eliminating scullery personnel. This update report does not support the findings of the 1968 and 1969 reports. New factors which contribute to this change are: (a) Rapidly rising costs of petrochemicals, in this case polystyrene, used for disposables. (b) Current Navy policy on waste reduction and disposal and environmental protection. (c) New evidence that a disposable ware system does not necessarily reduce overall labor costs, has no sanitation advantage over a well-operated permanent ware system, and is not generally preferred by users over an attractive permanent ware system. The previous two reports compared two alternatives: the present permanent mess gear system vs. a proposed disposable mess gear system. This update report adds a third alternative a future improved permanent mess gear system, and concludes that this third alternative is the way to go.