Food Waste Focus

If you haven’t heard yet, you’re likely to hear about this very soon. Mayor Bloomberg in New York City is taking on the issue of food waste and has proposed a policy that will require New Yorkers to separate their food scraps for composting. New York isn’t the first city to do this, but because [...]

There are two free Internet sites which help U.S. foodservice operators find commercial composting facilities near them. BioCycle Magazine’s online database, located on the web at www.findacomposter.com.  The site — which was recently redesigned — offers a searchable database of companies which process organic waste.  Unfortunately, not all composters choose to list themselves so the [...]

Earlier this year, PepsiCo took a bold leap forward by introducing the first compostable chip bag for its Sun Chips brand.  It was a significant step by a food and beverage leader, and one that many hoped would start a trend leading to more compostable packaging.  Indeed, PepsiCo had done extensive research to get its [...]

Have you read this great article yet?  It was in the June 2010 issue of Food Mangement.  It takes a good look at composting: how is compost created, what are the space requiremnts and is it realistic at your facility. Check it out: http://food-management.com/business_topics/management/composting-solutions-garbage-gold-0610/

Whats more likely to attract positive attention when outsiders tour through a kitchen: a compost bin filled with todays leftovers or an empty speed rack in a walk-in? In most all cases the compost bin steals the show. But the empty shelf actually has a much bigger story to tell. In fact, food waste prevention [...]

We were pleased to exhibit at the National Restaurant show in Chicago this year (NRA 2010).  Andrew Shakman was one of the presenters at the NRA Conserve Pavilion.  He was able to give three speeches over the course of four days. This link will take you to the presentation for “ABC’s of Food Waste Management: Reduction [...]

Practice Greenhealth recently released a 10-Step Guide to Foodservice Composting.  Although it was written specifically with healthcare foodservice in mind, all the content should be generally applicable to most volume foodservice operations. Download Practice Greenhealth Guide here: Composting 10StepGuide Practice Greenhealth offers many other excellent resources on waste management. Visit their site at www.practicegreenhealth.org.

Which foodservice waste items qualify as “compostable?” The answer depends on who will handle the composting – keep in mind that many commercial composters handle yard waste but cannot or will not accept food. Those that do handle food waste will usually accept all food waste (pre-consumer and post-consumer) as well as plant-based compostable disposables [...]

International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) takes place this year from May 2-8, 2010, with the theme “Compost!…Recycling For a Greener Tomorrow”. Originally established in 1995, Compost Awareness Week serves the important role of bringing the Compost! message to the attention of the public, business and other groups. Communities, government agencies as well as members of the composting [...]

Have you heard the term Zero Waste? If you answered “yes”, you’re not alone. Many foodservice managers and chefs have been learning about Zero Waste initiatives recently and looking specifically at the feasibility of zero food waste. Operators tend to have one of two reactions: * That’s an impossible goal, we can’t run out of [...]