Recycling and Waste Reduction in the Restaurant Industry From leftover food to Why Recycle and Reduce Waste? packaging and even To save resources: Recycling saves valuable reusable resources and reduces the kitchen supplies, restaurants in energy use and pollution associated with extracting and manufacturing virgin Wisconsin produce a lot of waste. materials. Many of these businesses have To reduce costs: Like other businesses in Wisconsin, restaurants pay for waste found that simple steps toward disposal. In many cases, recycling services cost significantly less than waste disposal; companies that reuse or recycle more waste can save significant costs. Reusing more reducing the amount of waste materials can also reduce purchasing and handling costs. they produce and increasing the To improve customer service: Recycling demonstrates your business’ commitment amount they recycle can have a to environmental protection. A recent survey indicates over 95% of Wisconsin big impact on waste disposal citizens recycle regularly. Offering recycling is just another way to better serve your costs. Recycling and reuse customers. programs reduce waste, save What Should Be Recycled in Wisconsin? money and promote an • Aluminum, glass, steel (tin) and bi-metal • Major appliances including air environmentally friendly image containers conditioners, clothes washers and dryers, for your restaurant. • Plastic containers #1 and #2, including dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, stoves, milk jugs and detergent, soda and water ovens, dehumidifiers, furnaces, boilers bottles and water heaters • Magazines, catalogs and other materials • Yard waste, including grass clippings, printed on similar paper leaves, yard and garden debris • Newspaper and office paper • Lead acid vehicle batteries, automotive waste oils and waste tires • Corrugated cardboard • oil filters • Computers, televisions, desktop printers, Used computer peripherals, DVD players, VCRs, digital video recorders, fax machines and phones with video displays Designing Your Recycling and Waste Reduction 1. Enlist management and employee support Your employees will be a large factor in ensuring your program’s success. Get them involved, informed and on board early in the process. Get support and policy directives from management that allow you to: I Use staff time and resources. I Integrate the program into company procedures. Recycling and Waste Reduction in the Restaurant Industry I Incorporate recycling/waste reduction responsibilities 4. Set up your collection into employee job duties and new employee training. system I Involve staff/employees in the decision making A clearly set up, easy-to-use process. If you manage a large restaurant, set up a waste collection system will help you reduction and recycling team. capture more of your recyclables. When setting up your system: 2. Understand your waste I Place recycling bins in easy-to- Recycling helps the environment access areas of your kitchen, office and storage areas. by recovering valuable resources I Use trash and recycling bins that look different from and turning them into new one another and are clearly marked. Signs with photos products we use every day. Before or images of recyclables placed above your recycling you start your recycling program, containers can help your staff know what should be conduct an audit of your recycled. company’s waste. Look through all trash bins for several I weeks. List the types and weights of items customers and Place trash and recycling bins next to one another staff throw away. Look for materials that are: where possible. I Present in significant quantities. 5. Educate and motivate I Relatively free of contamination (food, glue, etc.). employees I Easily separated from other materials. Your employees will be a large factor in ensuring your program’s 3. Develop your recycling success. Take time to educate staff program on what should and should not be Once you have characterized your recycled. Hold an all-staff meeting waste stream, work with your staff to go over how your system works and answer any to determine the items the questions. Make recycling part of all new staff training. restaurant can recycle, reduce, reuse or eliminate. Some common 6. Evaluate your program recyclables in a restaurant setting include: After your program has had some time to get established, evaluate • Computer paper • #1 and #2 plastic containers your success and make • Cardboard boxes • Copier and printer cartridges • Newspaper • Wood pallets adjustments. Work with your staff • Paper bags • Food waste and waste hauler to identify • Aluminum and steel cans problems or opportunities for • Plastic and glass beverage containers improvement. Ask your hauler for information on: I How much of each material is being collected. Start your program on a small scale. Choose materials that I Quality of materials collected and any contamination are easily recyclable and that your restaurant produces a issues. Work to correct these issues. lot of. Once you have a successful recycling program, it’s I Costs/savings associated with your recycling program. easy to add additional materials. Share program successes with your employees and let them know how much waste they are preventing! “Offering recycling is just another way to better serve your customers.” Recycling and Waste Reduction in the Restaurant Industry Waste reduction and Packaging I Instruct your staff to keep recyclables recycling ideas and contaminant free. Pay particular attention to I suggestions Request products with a minimal amount of glass recycling. Ceramics, drinking glasses, packaging from your suppliers. Ask them to light bulbs, etc. should not be mixed with glass look out for other products with minimal Restaurants can reduce their bottles and jars and are generally not collected packaging. waste and expenses through for recycling. Check with your hauler or local I Ask your suppliers to reuse or recycle recycling program for information on how a variety of waste reduction shipping boxes, pallets, bins, etc. recyclables should be prepared. and recycling activities. The I Buy beverages in concentrate or bulk form. following ideas originate from Food I Buy shelf-stable food supplies in bulk tried-and-true restaurant I whenever sales volume and storage space Code-date all products stored in the freezer programs. Choose justify it. This minimizes unnecessary and rotate properly. suggestions that would be packaging and may reduce costs. I Arrange your refrigerated and dry storage practical for you: I Minimize unnecessary packaging (e.g., areas to facilitate easy product access and double wrapping, double bagging) of take-out rotation. This will help minimize waste due to food. spills, breakage and spoilage. I I Offer customers a discount if they bring in Donate extra food to a local food bank. reusable “doggie bags” (e.g., plastic I Evaluate and adjust portions if meals are containers). consistently returned unfinished. I Offer customers half-orders at a reduced Dinnerware and kitchen supplies cost. Light eaters will appreciate the option I Purchase products made from recycled and it will reduce food waste. materials. For example, anti-fatigue mats I Send cooking oils, fats and grease to a made from recycled tires and paper products rendering firm. Contact your DNR waste (napkins, paper toweling and toilet paper) management specialist for service providers, or made from postconsumer recycled paper. look up a provider on the DNR markets I Use reusable coasters or nothing at all. directory website under “other materials.” I Use reusable table linen and dinnerware. I Look into composting food waste rather than throwing it away. Local farmers may I In kitchen areas, use cloth towels rather take all or a portion of your food waste for than paper. landspreading or to supplement their I Have employees use reusable mugs or cups compost pile. for their drinks. Cleaning supplies and restaurant infrastructure I Purchase multi-purpose, concentrated cleaning supplies, rather than job-specific, ready-to-use supplies. I Refill condiment bottles from bulk supplies. I Place rubber mats around bus and dishwashing stations to reduce china and glass breakage and help prevent injury. I Minimize excessive use of trash bags by compacting the trash in your garbage cans and emptying the cans only when they are full. I Donate or sell empty plastic pails or buckets to anyone who can use them. Resources For additional information on recycling DNR recycling in Wisconsin, contact the DNR Waste signage. and Materials Management Program at Contact the [email protected] or DNR to use 608-266-2111. these images for your Associated Recyclers of Wisconsin — business. A nonprofit association of business, government, nonprofits and trade associations. See www.arowonline.org. Contact AROW at admin@arow online.org or (608) 843-7360. Solid and Hazardous Waste Education Center — Provides information and technical assistance to businesses on waste reduction, recycling and pollution prevention. See www.uwex.edu/shwec/. Contact SHWEC at [email protected]. WasteCap Resources, Inc. — A nonprofit dedicated to providing waste reduction and recycling assistance for the benefit of business and the environment. See www.wastecap.org. Contact WasteCap at [email protected] or (414) 961-1100 or (608) 245-1100. Wisconsin Business Recycling Toolkit — A toolkit for commercial, business, institutions and other away from home recycling. See www.shwec.uwm.edu/ recyclingtoolkit/. Wisconsin Recycling Markets Directory — A