Navigating meals waste rules: A information for companies

This text is sponsored by Rubicon.

Meals waste rules are a vital situation for companies throughout the USA, notably for these with a number of areas.

As extra states, counties and cities implement meals waste rules, corporations should guarantee they continue to be in compliance and scale back their environmental impression. Lately, notable meals waste rules have been carried out throughout the nation, together with California’s SB 1383 and New York Metropolis’s Business Natural Recycling Guidelines.

Meals waste is the No. 1 materials going to the landfill by weight and is usually the heaviest materials in our trash, which suggests diverting it away from landfills and into recycling streams can have a big impression on lowering waste general. 

On this article, we’ll discover the newest meals waste rules from throughout the nation, talk about finest practices for staying compliant and sustainable, and delve into the significance of site-level schooling and management assist in implementing profitable meals scrap diversion applications.

Proposed meals waste rules

Eating places and different foodservice companies are pushing for extra organics recycling infrastructure as a consequence of new and upcoming meals waste rules.

There’s not but a standardized mannequin for meals waste assortment throughout the nation, so manufacturers should implement a patchwork of applications if they’re to remain compliant, which makes that activity considerably tougher.

Sure rules are already in impact, reminiscent of these talked about above in California and New York Metropolis. Different upcoming rules throughout the nation embody:

• New Hampshire: Proposed measure H.B. 300 prohibits landfilling or incineration of 1 ton or extra of meals waste generated per week. If the measure passes, meals waste have to be managed by a certified facility inside 50 miles of the purpose of era.
• New Jersey: Proposed measure A.B. 1439 requires every stable waste administration district to develop a method to scale back meals waste. It additionally requires the Division of Environmental Safety to develop measures to assist stable waste administration districts obtain this objective.
• New York: Senate Invoice 984 requires state and municipal businesses to ascertain a composting program of their buildings. The businesses should report back to the Division of Environmental Conservation on their composting applications, together with the quantity of waste collected and program prices.
• Washington state: H.B. 1033 proposes a committee to develop compostable product administration requirements. The committee should additionally discover monetary incentives and reusable merchandise insurance policies.

Why your corporation ought to divert meals waste

Diverting meals waste from landfills is essential for lowering greenhouse gasoline (GHG) emissions and addressing local weather change. When meals waste decomposes, it produces methane, a potent GHG. By diverting meals waste to composting or anaerobic digestion services, companies can considerably scale back their carbon footprint, scale back the quantity of waste despatched to landfills, and contribute to a extra sustainable future.

Implementing a meals scrap diversion program could seem daunting, however many corporations, together with Rubicon, provide meals waste diversion providers and assets are available to assist your corporation get began. Companies should adhere to meals waste rules to keep away from potential fines. Most rules require companies to separate meals scraps from different waste streams and get rid of them via composting or anaerobic digestion. Some rules additionally require companies to trace and report their meals waste diversion efforts. Staying updated with rules and reporting necessities could be a vital problem.

To successfully handle meals waste, companies can first conduct a materials characterization examine, also referred to as a waste audit, to determine areas the place meals waste is being generated and the alternatives to scale back it. Subsequent, you possibly can implement a meals waste diversion program, together with methods reminiscent of supply discount, donation and composting.

Expertise performs a crucial function in managing meals waste, from monitoring and reporting to streamlining waste administration processes. Rubicon presents technology-first options that may assist companies observe their diversion efforts and adjust to regulatory necessities. Moreover, know-how options can assist companies streamline their waste administration processes, scale back waste disposal prices and enhance their sustainability metrics.

The significance of site-level schooling and management assist

To efficiently implement a meals waste diversion program, companies should have buy-in from staff in any respect ranges. Offering site-level schooling and coaching on sustainable waste administration practices can assist staff and prospects perceive the significance of diverting meals scraps.

Constructing a tradition of sustainability may also positively have an effect on worker morale and engagement. Contain staff within the design and implementation of signage that dictates how and the place to recycle supplies at their location. Present media, reminiscent of coaching guides and movies, that promote schooling on the “why” behind these efforts. Equally, management assist is crucial.

Sustainable waste administration practices may also positively have an effect on the group and stakeholders. By involving these teams, companies can construct relationships and enhance their visibility locally. This will result in constructive publicity, elevated model recognition and a stronger reference to their prospects and group.

Getting began

In lots of circumstances, eating places and different foodservice companies wish to implement an organics program however don’t know find out how to begin. This creates a possibility to teach stakeholders on the perfect practices of organics recycling and composting.

Rubicon works with an enormous community of eating places and different meals retailers throughout the nation to assist them divert their meals waste away from landfills and into recycling streams. Current success tales embody:

• Sweetgreen: Rubicon is the lead accomplice for waste, recycling and composting providers for Sweetgreen with areas throughout the USA. In 2022, Rubicon helped the corporate compost or recycle 79 % of waste at eating places the place they accomplice.
• Wegmans: Wegmans shops have a median recycling fee of 80 %. With 109 shops taking part within the firm’s zero waste initiative, Wegmans has donated 32.8 million kilos of perishable and non-perishable meals, and it has diverted 73.7 million kilos of meals waste away from landfills, based on its 2022 Group Affect Report.

Leslie Rodgers, director of gross sales and advertising at Atlas Organics, famous throughout a current panel dialogue that includes Rubicon and Chick-fil-A on the Restaurant Services Administration Affiliation (RFMA) Annual Convention 2023, that it’s best for eating places to “begin small than in no way,” as a result of even minor modifications within the pursuit of sustainability are a step in the suitable route.