7 June 2010

Waste Reduction Strategies to Keep Your Restaurant Eco-Friendly

Posted by Crystal under: Restaurant Business .

Restaurants can significantly reduce the waste they contribute to be dumped into the landfills by implementing just a few environmentally-safe waste reduction strategies.  Majority of the commercial kitchen’s waste typically comes from disposables, food scraps, soiled napkins, and organic waste.  Any commercial kitchen will benefit from a sensible waste reduction management program, including recycling strategies, use of biodegradable disposables, and implementation of composting techniques.

Biodegradable disposables. Majority of restaurants are accustomed to using many disposable products, such as packaging for carry-out orders, Styrofoam cups and plates, plastic products and so on.  Although these products are cost effective, they are not reusable and when thrown away, they create a great amount of waste that will not break down naturally for many years (decades or centuries) to come.  In an effort to become more environmentally friendly, many restaurants are turning to an alternative to standard plastic and Styrofoam products, – namely, biodegradable disposables.  Also called bioplastics, these disposable products are typically made from corn, sugarcane or other renewable vegetable material.    Biodegradable disposables exhibit plastic-like qualities, but when thrown away, they will break down naturally in landfills within the matter of months.

Environmentally friendly disposables. Another popular type of eco-friendly packaging products is sugarcane bagasse products.  Made from renewable sugarcane pulp, these products have paper-like consistency; however, they do not contain tree fiber.  They can be used in the freezer, microwave, and they naturally degrade in the landfills within months.

Composting is a popular “green” method of dealing with the organic waste.  Composting is a process of combining organic waste products together in a bin and creating the right aeration conditions – which will allow microorganisms to consume the waste products and leave behind a natural product, called compost.   Because almost all of restaurant’s waste is food waste, composting is a great way to handle majority of restaurant’s organic waste.  Compost can be used for a variety of purposes, most commonly as a soil additive to enhance soil condition due to the nutrient-rich consistency of compost.   Currently there are many technological solutions that can provide restaurants with the capability to turn any organic waste into compost in a very short time.   The cost of such composting machines can be high; however, long-term environmental benefits are tremendous.  Materials that can be composted include food waste, cardboard, newspapers, napkins, paper towels, tea bags, and so on.

Managing waste. There are other ways to wisely manage your waste handling.  Use internet, your trash pick-up service provider and other sources to find out if there are local alternatives to the way you currently handle trash, such as if there is an option for organic waste pick up.   Analyze the type of waste your establishment generates and look for ways to make your waste as organic and biodegradable as possible.  Decrease the amount of disposables you use (unless they are biodegradable) and increase your recycling efforts, using more re-usable products.   Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins and cleaning clothes in place of paper towels.   Purchase recycled products.  Re-use fryer oil and collect it for further recycling.  These and other waste management efforts will not only reduce the amount of waste your restaurant contributes to the environment – it will also reduce your financial expenditures due to more efficient use of resources.

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