By Virgina Dakiniewich, onthevirg.ca
In a commercial kitchen, waste is something that is left over and no longer of use. This includes leftover food, packaging materials, broken dishes and waste from food preparation. Restaurants and foodservice produce a large amount of waste, which is often generated from improper storage and handling of supplies, preparing too much food and poor recycling practices.
How to combat waste in your commercial kitchen
The first step would be to conduct a waste assessment. Examine what goes into your trash and the products being purchased. This will give you an idea of the types of waste being produced by your restaurant. Once you know the types of waste you produce, you can decrease your output of garbage and help the environment by handling waste properly. Here are 10 tips to help you get started.
1. Purchase products with recycled material
By using recyclable products and products that have been recycled you can close the recycling loop. Try to find products that contain a high percentage of “post-consumer” waste. This means that the product is made from paper collected from residential and business recycling programs, not just from trimmings and paper scraps from within paper mills. Items made from post-consumer recycled materials are the friendliest to the environment.
2. Compost food waste
Kitchen scraps consist of food waste ranging from meat and bread to dairy products, fruits and vegetables. By separating them for composting, kitchen scraps can be turned into a nutrient-rich soil additive and kept out of a landfill. Composted kitchen scraps contain nutrients and minerals essential for healthy plant development. They also encourage healthy soil ecosystems through the addition of micro-organisms. These micro-organisms can help reduce garden pests and encourage beneficial insects, reducing or eliminating pesticide use. Connect with a private business or commercial composter to collect waste for composting or learn how to compost on site.
3. Monitor food waste
Take note of what servers and bus staff return to the kitchen. Evaluate and adjust the size of your meal portions if they are consistently being returned unfinished, or remove foods that are consistently being leftover. Offer half-portions for your guests and children’s portions for younger customers.
4. Use reusable napkins and cleaning cloths
From an environmental and financial standpoint, it makes more sense to use products that can be washed and re-used as opposed to disposable towels or napkins that would end up in a landfill. Opt for linen cloths over cotton, as linen is significantly more environmentally friendly to produce.
5. Replace plastic and polystyrene foam (Styrofoam) with green disposables
Compostable and biodegradable takeout items are much more widely available than before. Utilizing products made from recycled content is preferable, or material that can be composted in a backyard composter, or with a municipal facility (e.g. paper-based). This will help reduce the amount of landfill waste that result from single-use plastic and Styrofoam. Plant-based “compostable” plastic products, made mainly from corn, sugarcane, and other renewable vegetable matter, can sometimes (but not always) be commercially composted, so if you plan to use these products, check with your municipal composter to ensure they accept compostable containers. Many restaurateurs are also moving towards reusable containers, which they provide to customers for a deposit.
6. Collect used oil and grease
A lot of the fats, oils and grease used in restaurants end up in the sink drain during food preparation and after meal clean up. They enter the sewer pipes and stick to the sides and roof of the pipes. Over time the fats, oils and grease can build up to a point in which the pipe is entirely blocked off, resulting in sewage backups and overflows. By utilizing a good quality grease trap and a waste cooking oil service to collect used oil and grease, you will help protect the sewer systems and waterways from contaminants. Used cooking oil is reclaimed, renewed, and then returned to the marketplace and used in lubricants, animal feed, and biofuel.
7. Re-use food packaging items
Food crates and pallets can be reused, and excess packaging can be reduced. Let your supplier know that you are serious about cutting down on unnecessary waste, and ask to keep informed of new and existing products that meet requirements, but have minimal packaging. The more restaurants ask for less wasteful alternatives, the faster manufacturers will respond with better packaging design.
8. Salvage water for cleaning
Water from steam tables and other steaming equipment is stored in a reservoir to be dumped out later. Instead of dumping this clean water down the drain, use it for cleaning the floors at the end of the day or anytime the steam table water is changed. It makes a big difference in helping with water conservation.
9. Reduce breakage or loss of china, glass or silver
Create staff incentives to reduce breakage or loss of supplies. Employees with a good record for the month could be given cash bonuses, gift certificates or a night off, depending on your budget. Place rubber mats around bus and dishwashing stations to reduce glass and china breakage, as well as injury resulting from slips.
10. Beverages, sauces, dressings
Provide sugar bowls, bottles of sauce, salt and pepper cellars rather than sachets. Serve milk, juice and soft drinks from dispensers rather than cartons. When possible, use refillable condiment bottles and refill them from condiments purchased in bulk. This can apply to ketchup, coffee cream, sugar and other items.
By reducing, reusing and recycling your waste you can save money in your business. Reducing waste will lower your overheads and reusing waste will reduce the cost of purchasing raw materials. Recycling waste may reduce disposal costs over time. Making social responsibility a priority in your business can enhance your public image, improving your reputation with investors, regulators, your customers and the community.