Business Waste Reduction

Food Service Waste Reduction Tips and Ideas

Restaurants, fast food establishments, and cafeterias can do a lot to minimize or reduce potential cost increases by incorporating simple waste prevention and recycling programs and procedures that will eliminate much of the waste that is thrown away. With proper purchasing and handling, and careful preparation and storage, food service establishments can help reduce waste and save money! Your restaurant may already be using many of these ideas to reduce costs as well as waste. Try a few new suggestions, see how they work, and then continue to expand your waste reduction program.

Beverages

• Serve beverages from a beverage gun or dispenser, buy bar mixes in concentrate form, and buy milk in 5-gallon dispenser boxes.

Grocery Items

• Use health department-approved, refillable condiment dispensers instead of individual packets. Buy shelf-stable food supplies in bulk when sales volume and storage space allows.
• Consider buying your lettuce precut during those times of the year when the pre-cut cost is equal to (or less than) the cost of the bulk product.
• Buy meats in bulk or uncut form and cut to size.
• Consider buying shelled eggs, in bulk, if your egg usage for general cooking or baking is three or more cases per week.

Produce Handling and Storage

• Donate unserved food to a local food bank.
• Check your produce deliveries carefully for rotten or damaged product, and return any substandard product.
• Rotate perishable stock at every delivery to minimize waste due to spoilage.
• Clean coolers and freezers regularly to ensure that food has not fallen behind the shelving and spoiled.
• Arrange your refrigerated and dry storage areas to facilitate easy product access and rotation.
• Store raw vegetables and other perishables in reusable airtight containers to prevent unnecessary dehydration and spoilage.
• Rehydrate vegetables (e.g., celery, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, etc.) that have wilted by trimming off the very bottom part of the stalk and immersing in warm water (100°F.) for 15 to 20 minutes.

Food Preparation and Storage

• Adjust inventory levels on perishables to reduce waste due to spoilage or dehydration.
• Use hourly or daily production charts to minimize over prepping and unnecessary waste.
• Whenever possible, prepare foods to order.
• When prepping food, only trim off what is not needed.
• Use vegetable and meat trimmings for soup stock.
• Adjust the size of meal portions if you find they are consistently being returned unfinished.
• Pre-cool hot foods (in an ice bath) before refrigerating.
• Reuse leftover foods that have been stored at proper temperature within two days of preparation to prevent waste due to spoilage.
• Store leftover hot foods from different stations in separate containers to reduce the chance of spoilage.
• Wrap freezer products tightly, label, and date them. Make sure they are used in a timely fashion, to minimize waste due to freezer burn.

Purchasing

• Ask your suppliers take back shipping boxes for reuse or recycling and to keep you informed about new and existing products that are packaged in ways which can reduce waste.
• Always consider durability as a cost criterion when buying equipment and janitorial supplies.

Paper Supplies

• Purchase paper products made from recycled materials.
• Use reusable coasters (or nothing at all) instead of paper napkins when serving beverages from the bar.
• Store and handle unwrapped paper supplies to prevent the products from inadvertently falling on the floor.

Janitorial and Restaurant Supplies

• Use reusable table linen and dinnerware.
• Use cloth towels for cleaning, rather than the paper equivalents.
• Use plastic trash can liners made of recycled HDPE instead of ones made of LDPE or LLDPE. They contain less raw material, work equally well for most uses, and generally cost less.
• Purchase cleaning supplies in concentrate form.
• Use multipurpose cleaners that can be used for all types of surfaces rather than cleaners that are job specific. Whenever possible, use cleaning agents that are less hazardous or non-hazardous.
• Use reusable hats for kitchen employees instead of disposable paper ones.

Production and Service Areas

• Implement a monthly cleaning and maintenance program for all your equipment.
• Keep refrigeration in good running order to prevent unnecessary spoilage and reduce energy costs.
• Check the syrup-to-water calibration on beverage dispensers regularly.
• Keep oven equipment calibrated to prevent over baking.
• Clean fryers and filter the oil daily. Use a test kit to determine when to change fryer oil.

Back-of-the-House

• Create incentives for staff to reduce breakage of china and glass.
• Place rubber mats around bus and dish washing stations to reduce china and glass breakage.
• Have employees use permanent-ware mugs or cups for their drinks.
• Check for discarded trays and flatware before throwing out dining room trash.

Front-of-the-House

• Distribute condiments from behind the counter instead of offering self-service.
• Use straw-style stir sticks for bar beverages instead of the solid style.
• Serve straws from health department-approved dispensers rather than pre-wrapped, and offer only one straw per drink.
• Use serving containers in sizes that meet the packaging needs of your menu items without having excess packaging material.
• Minimize the use of unnecessary extra packaging of take-out foods. Use less packaging for eat-in foods than for food being taken out, or use none at all.
• Offer customers a discount if they bring their own mugs, containers, or bags.

Recycling Activities

• Set up a rendering service for your waste grease, fat, or used cooking oil.
• Set up a recycling program with one of your local collectors (e.g. cardboard, glass).
• If you serve beverages in cans or bottles, place a recycling bin in the dining area for your customers' empty beverage containers.
• Donate empty plastic pails or buckets to schools, nurseries, churches, customers, or employees. Donate old uniforms to thrift shops.

Ask Your Employees

Don't forget to ask your staff for their input and assistance on what can be done to reduce waste. Reward them for good ideas. Including employees in the decision-making process will help ensure participation in your efforts to reduce waste, and will result in higher productivity, better morale, and lower costs.

Tell Your Customers

Educate customers and advertise your waste reduction program by posting signs highlighting your efforts. Offer customers a discount if they bring their own mugs, containers, or bags.

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Source: Food for Thought, Restaurant Guide to Waste Reduction and Recycling, 1992, City and County of San Francisco. It is available in hard copy or as a downloadable PDF (portable document format) file.

For More Help:

• For information on how to prevent waste, call the CalRecycle's Waste Prevention Information Exchange at (916) 341-6363.
• CalRecycle Buy Recycled Program, (916) 341-6481.

Publication #500-94-027

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