Step 3: Reduce and Reuse

Prevent waste creation by reusing items and reducing your consumption of resources.

Save money on disposal by not creating waste in the first place. The hierarchy of solid waste management calls for reduction and reuse before recycling. Now that you have finished the initial waste audit, you can identify materials for reuse and reduction. Below are some techniques for restaurants and hotels.

Purchasing

• Ask suppliers to take packaging back.
• Ask your suppliers to inform you of products that contain recycled content, have reduced packaging, and are packaged in recyclable materials.
• Establish purchasing guidelines to encourage the use of durable, repairable equipment, and reusable products such as linen and tableware.
• Buy a dispensing system to replace disposable room amenities such as shampoo and lotion bottles.

Donation

• Guest hangers no longer suitable for use to local dry cleaners.
• Linens, towels, blankets, soap, shampoo, uniforms, and used furniture to a local shelter.
• Egg cartons, strawberry baskets, tennis ball canisters, poster board, and other materials to schools or daycare centers for use in arts and crafts activities.
• Flowers that were used for a banquet to a local hospice or hospital.
• Unserved food to local food banks. Produce scraps can be composted on site or donated to local farmers for composting.

Waste Minimization

• Use pourers for sugar, pitchers for cream and small serving dishes for butter and jellies.
• Use cloth towels or hot air dryers in the restrooms.
• Buy beverages in concentrate or bulk form.
• Use health department-approved, refillable condiment dispensers instead of individual packets.
• Minimize excessive use of disposable and non-recyclable packaging.
• Use minimal packaging to wrap take-out items and offer pre-packaged food in recyclable packaging.
• Buy shelf-stable food supplies in bulk.
• Have employees use permanent-ware mugs or cups for their drinks.
• Use straw-style stir sticks for bar beverages instead of the solid style.
• Serve straws from health department-approved dispenser rather than pre-wrapped, and offer only one straw per drink.
• Offer customers a discount if they bring their own mugs, containers, or bags.
• Print daily specials on a chalkboard or dry-erase board, rather than printing daily specials on new sheets of paper every day.

Reuse

• Store food in reusable containers.
• Use old paper bags when draining fat off oily foods, instead of paper towels.
• Turn stained tablecloths into napkins and chef's aprons.
• Use cloth linens and old linens for rags. Use reusable coffee filters. Quality cotton, silk or metal filters can replace the cartons of paper filters restaurants go through in a given year.
• Collect and resell used cooking fat (oils) back to a manufacturer.

Food Preparation and Storage

• Adjust inventory levels on perishables to reduce waste due to spoilage or dehydration.
• Use daily production charts to minimize over prepping and unnecessary waste.
• Whenever possible, prepare foods to order.
• Adjust the size of meal portions if you find they are consistently being returned unfinished.
• Wrap freezer products tightly, label, and date them. Make sure they are used in a timely fashion, to minimize waste due to freezer burn.
• 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.