Restaurant Food Scrap Recycling Program, California
Type of practice Recycle
Name of practice Restaurant Food Scrap Recycling Program, California
Name of main actor CR&R Inc. waste and recycling hauler of eight cities and 40 restaurants
Type of actor(s) Food services, Public authority
Location United States of America
Stage of implementation End-of-life
Year of implementation 2010
What was/is being done? In April 2010, in response to a planned landfill disposal fee increase, eight cities in Orange County, along with the cities’ solid waste service provider, began a pilot program to collect and transport restaurant food scraps to a composting facility. The program was funded by a grant from the Orange County Waste and Recycling Department. Each participating city approached five restaurants that are high food waste generators to participate in the free pilot program. Each participating city’s recycling coordinator and staff from the solid waste service provider makes regular onsite visits to train restaurant employees to properly separate and contain food waste for recycling. The hauler provides the restaurants free indoor and outdoor bins for bi-weekly food scrap collection.
Outcomes and impacts Over 600 tons of food waste were diverted from the landfill and recycled into compost during the first six months of the pilot program. Some participating restaurants reduced the amount of food waste going to disposal, and thus their monthly solid waste collection bill, by 50 percent. The eight cities continue the food scrap recycling program after the grant ended at the end of 2011.
Source(s) http://www.ca-ilg.org/post/creating-successful-restaurant-food-scrap-recycling-program-lessons-learned-eight-city-regional
