Restaurant Prevention and Reduction Fact Sheet

Food service establishments can Remember that participating in a save money and protect the program can environment by reducing waste create an improved public image and practicing pollution for your business. prevention.

ENERGY AND WATER USE • Reduce costs of lawn care by watering lightly and frequently to reduce the • Conduct an energy audit to determine potential for disease and ways to conserve energy and cut insect damage. Michigan expenditures. Install energy-efficient light grasses require only 0.5 to bulbs and motion-sensitive lights, 1.5 inches of water per week. turn off lights at the end of the A 15- to 20-minute daily watering during evening, turn off machines not in dry weather is usually sufficient. use, install programmable -free thermostats, and replace outdated equipment and appliances with more energy-efficient models. • Reduce water consumption by repairing or replacing leaky water faucets, turning off water faucets and hoses when not in use, installing low-volume toilets, installing low-flow faucets, and MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF serving water to guests who request ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY it rather than as a standard service. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSISTANCE DIVISION PO BOX 30457 Limiting water service will also LANSING MI 48909-7957 reduce the number of glasses that www.deq.state.mi.us need to be washed. Environmental Assistance Center 1-800-662-9278 RECYCLED October 1999• #9815 PAPER

AUTHORITY: PA 451 OF 1994 TOTAL COPIES: 26,100 TOTAL COST: $1824.53 COST PER COPY: $.07 MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

John Engler, Governor u Russell J. Harding, Director Fact Sheet

SOLID WASTE • Let your patrons know you recycle. If your establishment is self-serve, post • Procure recycled and recyclable products. signs letting customers know • Work with suppliers to reduce packaging, that you are recycling and what thereby reducing disposal costs. they should do with their • Most beer and soft drinks can be bottles and cans. Either put served on tap, reducing both the out a bin for these items or have customers costs of buying beverages and leave them on a designated counter for disposing of recyclable cans and collection by your staff. bottles. • Switch from disposable items such as napkins, utensils, placemats, cups, • Institute a hazardous waste collection trays, and single-serving program. Many commercial cleaning condiment packages to reusable products contain hazardous materials such items to reduce solid waste as caustics or strong acids. Never pour disposal costs. hazardous down the drain. Never mix different wastes. If possible, consider using • Separate newspaper, office paper, tin and alternative materials. Look for "non-toxic," bimetal cans, glass, plastics (high density "non-petroleum based," "free of ammonia, polyethylene-HDPE, polyethylene phosphates, dye, or perfume," or "readily terephthalate-PET), corrugated cardboard, biodegradable" on the label. Avoid wooden pallets, aluminum, kitchen grease, chlorinated compounds, petroleum food waste, and other recyclables from solid distillates, phenols, and formaldehyde. waste and implement a Phosphate is an aquatic plant nutrient that recycling program. Use can cause excessive growth of aquatic algae color-coded collection bins and problems after the in the kitchen and bar for detergent is washed down the drain. Ask easy identification. your supplier about the many phosphate- • Check with your waste hauler and ask what free, biodegradable detergents on the types of recycling services are available. Look market. for haulers who are flexible and willing to • Practice good housekeeping to reduce pest work with you to design a recycling populations and the need for chemical program based on your needs. Ask your controls. Keep doors shut when not in use; waste hauler for advice about keeping place weather stripping on doors; caulk and recyclables and wet waste separate. seal openings in walls; install or repair

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screens; install air curtains; keep vegetation, • Buy in bulk to reduce container waste but shrubs, and wood mulch at least one foot avoid buying too much of a product that away from structures. Store food and waste might spoil. Buy locally to minimize in tightly sealed containers that are transportation costs and to increase local inaccessible to pests. economy. • Integrated Pest Management (IPM) • Collect and send used grease to a renderer. programs combine chemical, cultural, and By avoiding disposal of kitchen grease down biological practices into one program to the drain, you will minimize clogging of manage pest populations. IPM principles pipes, use of toxic chemicals used to clear incorporate preventive practices, remedial drains, and unnecessary discharge to your practices, and economic thresholds, thus sewer system resulting in wastewater reducing the amount of chemicals treatment upsets. Find a rendering company used by applying only that will provide storage barrels and free when necessary and at the minimum pick-up service. Local chambers of effective rate. Use less soluble, less commerce, county agricultural extension leachable, less persistent, and less toxic agencies, commercial food suppliers, or the pesticides whenever possible. telephone book (under tallow or rendering company) can provide information on area • Store all fertilizer and containers rendering companies. safely to prevent spills and dispose of the empty containers properly. Never store these • Inspect and clean grease traps and grease products with food products. interceptors often enough to prevent clogs, spills, and overflows. NEVER pour grease, FOOD WASTE oil, or large quantities of oil liquids such as sauces or salad dressings down a sink, floor • Use a "first-in, first-out" inventory policy drain, storm drain, or into a dumpster. for raw materials to prevent them from exceeding their shelf life. Rotate perishable STORM WATER stock at every delivery to minimize waste. Strict inventory control is the most effective • You may be polluting the storm water if you and cost efficient way to prevent usable rinse wash water down a storm drain, spill materials from needlessly becoming waste. materials or wastes in your parking lot Improperly stored, labeled, or outdated food without cleaning them up, or allow becomes waste. materials or waste stored outside to leak. Prevent these activities from occurring and stencil storm drains "Dump no waste–drains to river" (lake, stream, etc.).

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• Clean equipment such as floor mats, exhaust illegal dumping, not hosing out the filters, garbage cans, carts, or tray racks in a dumpster interior, applying absorbent over designated indoor area such as a janitor/ any fluids spilled in the dumpster, sweeping utility/mop sink or floor area with a drain up , and replacing leaking dumpsters. connected to the sanitary sewer. • Never pour wash water down a storm drain • Dumpsters used for garbage should be or gutter. Use the mop sink for proper protected from rainwater, and loading docks disposal. should be kept clean to avoid unwanted substances from entering storm drains. RESOURCES • Some helpful hints for dumpster • Contact your local health department for maintenance include keeping the dumpster additional information. lid closed to keep out rain water, replacing damaged or missing lids as soon as possible, never placing liquid waste or leaky garbage bags into a dumpster, keeping dumpsters or the dumpster enclosure locked to prevent

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) will not discriminate against any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, religion, age, national origin, color, marital status, disability, or political beliefs. Questions or concerns should be directed to the MDEQ Office of Personnel Services, PO Box 30473, Lansing, MI 48909.

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