Three Effective Waste Management Practices For Restaurants

The restaurant industry produces approximately 22 to 33 billion pounds of food waste annually. Unfortunately, most catering waste is sent to landfills, producing greenhouse gases that adversely affect the environment. Although the restaurant segment cannot eliminate all the food waste it generates, individual businesses should reduce the amount of waste sent to dump sites.

The waste management practices you introduce in your establishment must align with the restaurant industry for success. Particularly, consult a waste management expert to analyze your operations and help develop a garbage management system that works for your eatery. Here are effective waste control practices for a restaurant business. 

1. Inspect All Deliveries 

Typically, restaurants order supplies based on specific factors, such as the day's menu and expected guests. Therefore, you must examine deliveries against order specifications to ensure continuity of operations while controlling wastage. For example, if you order 100 pounds of salmon and your supplier delivers 150 pounds, reject the extra 50 pounds. Strictly follow your order list to avoid excess stock and potential food waste. 

Confirm all food items delivered are fresh and reject any with visible spoilage signs. Additionally, ensure all supplies are delivered at the right temperature to improve storage time. Designate the inspection task to two or three staff members to minimize waste.   

2. Track Waste Sources

Waste management efforts are counterproductive if you don't know waste sources. Therefore, monitor waste generation after receiving the day's ingredients until waiters and waitresses return patrons' plates to the kitchen. Subsequently, use the data to determine unavoidable waste, such as customers' rejections, and avoidable waste, like cooking errors.

Your servingware determines portion sizes and directly contributes to food waste. Therefore, change tableware periodically and settle on a plate shape and size that significantly reduces the number of leftovers without compromising clients' experience. Overall, understand the various sources of trash in your restaurant to develop an effective waste management plan that reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills.

3. Compost Food Waste

Restaurants operate on thin profit margins, and food waste is an avoidable expense that leads to lost revenue. However, practice effective garbage management, such as composting kitchen waste, to reduce operational costs and landfill trash. For instance, create an on- or off-site compost pit and garden and regularly plant ingredients your restaurant uses.

Use unavoidable food waste, such as customer rejections on the compost, to reduce catering garbage sent to dumpsites. Furthermore, add a new revenue stream by selling some of the produce you grow in your compost garden to other establishments.

Effective waste management practices protect the environment and reduce a restaurant's operational costs. Therefore, inspect ingredients delivered, track waste sources, and compost kitchen waste to meet your garbage management goals. For more information on junk removal, contact a professional near you.

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