BMPs for Commercial & institutional Wasted food reduction/Recovery Athena Lee Bradley Northeast Recycling Council www.NERC.org

Food Waste Reduction Alliance Study done by BSR

Percent of total purchased food Percent of trash Percent Wasted Restaurants Percent of total purchased food 11.3% Full Service / 9.55% Fast-Food Percent of trash 66% Full Service / 52% Fast-food Retailers - Percent of wasted food Fresh fruit - 1.4%, fresh vegetables - 9.7%, fresh meat, poultry, & seafood - 4.5% total amount of purchased food - U. Arizona BSR USDA – much higher at convenience stores

Percent Donated or Recycled Restaurants Donated, 1.4% (surveys vary 20-70%) Recycled, 14.3% Of this, more than 70% is cooking oil recycling Manufacturing Donated or recycled 94.9% More than 85 percent is repurposed for animal feed Retail/wholesale Donated or recycled 42.4% Composting & donation BSR Survey - Analysis of U.S. Food Waste Among Food Manufacturers, Retailers, and Restaurants Prepared for the Food Waste Reduction Alliance

Benefits Save $ - reduced commodities, labor, energy, disposal costs Improved worksite sanitation Recognition Access to tax credits Community engagement/social benefits Environmental

Wasted Food—Restaurants, Cafeterias Back of the house/pre-consumer Expiration/spoilage, trim waste, incorrectly prepared food/overcooked, dropped, overproduction Service stations – salad bars, self-serve, deli stations, misordered product, expired grab & go Leftover catering Front of house/customer/post-consumer Plate waste

Wasted Food—Retailers From transport - bruising, spoiling, drying On shelf - piling, touching, dropping No longer fresh “looking”/ “ugly” Customers shop based on food appearance Sell-by & best-by dates confuse retailers & shoppers Mistakenly perceived as no longer fresh or safe enough to sell

Getting Generators on Board Assist with waste audits/assessments Provide training & resources Promote the organics hierarchy How to “right size” trash collection Know donation & composting options Grant money Recognition Benefits!

Waste Audit/Assessment Understand food service practices & how they generate inefficiency/waste Determine baseline Look at each point of generation Pre-Consumer Receiving, prep, production Service: hot line, deli, salad bar Post-Consumer See NERC’s Waste Audit and Waste Assessment  and Waste Assessment and Waste Audit forms for specific information.

Engage key stakeholders – “SWAT” Key Steps  Engage key stakeholders – “SWAT” Review data, set waste minimization goals Revise procedures, policies, menus Daily overview/discussion; weekly meetings Track/control systems Ongoing measure of pre-consumer waste Periodic review of plate waste – portion sizes Stop Waste Action Team What waste reduction & diversion practices are already in place? Do all personnel participate? What is being thrown out & why? Are there reduction, recovery, recycling, or compost options for dealing with it?  If food went bad, was it incorrectly dated? Not rotated? Were cooked items burnt?  Are portions too large?

Staff Training Employee orientation Ongoing Staff meetings – solve issues as a team Monitor staff compliance Friendly competitions Recognition/rewards Consistent messaging, signage Seek Feedback/Provide Feedback Give periodic updates-$saved, food scraps diverted Address staff turnover

Wasted Food Reduction BMPs Make wise purchasing decisions Reduce inventory size, order more frequently Practice proper storage/rotation Invest in high-quality preparation & processing equipment Specialized knives Bulk food purchasing & dispensers for peeling of fruits and vegetables or knives for filleting and cutting meat or fish. These seemingly small differences in the quantity of food waste in the long period have a major impact on reducing waste and increasing your profit.

BMPs, cont. Batch Cooking Consider secondary uses for excess food Soups, salads, daily specials Change the dishware Smaller plates & glasses will reduce portions Set smaller plates with food on larger plates to make portions look bigger

BMPs, cont. Monitor plate waste - adjust menu & portions Allow employees to take home leftovers Go trayless - students waste 25-30% less food without tray option “Waste Awareness Drives”

Properly maintain perishable foods & groceries displays Retail Specific BMPs Properly maintain perishable foods & groceries displays Rotate older products in front of newer ones Discount food that isn’t at peak freshness or “ugly” produce Use in prepared deli foods, soups, etc.

Food Recovery Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act Richard Russell National School Lunch Act Amended to clarify that schools who donated food to charity are protected by Good Samaritan Laws USDA & EPA recognize schools K12FoodRescue.com - "Getting Started" Reduces food scrap disposal needs Helps those in need Food to animals – helps farms USDA - Food waste challenge EPA - Food Recovery Challenge

Barriers to Donating Food Transportation constraints Insufficient storage/refrigeration on site Liability concerns Regulatory constraints Insufficient storage/refrigeration at food banks Confusion over use by/sell by dates Most restaurants do not track waste…so the claim we don’t have enough to donate may not be based on fact

Food Recovery BMPs Know characteristics of suitable food – Types of acceptable food Food safety is key - trained staff, temperature control, timing, sanitation Develop directory of food recovery organizations Promote benefits—tax credits, liability protection, community benefits

Food Recovery BMPs, cont. Partnership building Effective communication & relationships Assist food recovery organizations in setting up route densities Or, alternative means of transportation Recordkeeping Promote/Recognize participants

Food Recovery in Action

Farm Gleaning

Food for Animals

Grow Compost Vermont Food recovery, food to chickens, food to compost Closing the loop

Grow Compost Vermont, cont.

Recognition

Universal Signs & Symbols Shared Resources DropBox, Google Docs, website downloads, etc. Consistent Images Consistent Colors

NERC Can Help Fee for service makes NERC’s expertise available at a We’re experts in Fee for service makes NERC’s expertise available at a Waste reduction & recycling Recycling program design & implementation Organics management reasonable price with outstanding results Green procurement C&D reuse & recycling Electronics recycling Athena Lee Bradley School reuse, recycling & composting athena@nerc.org 802.254.3636 Textile recycling programs Multi-stakeholder dialogues & negotiations www.nerc.org & More!