Restaurants are composting using new modern equipment that makes it both practical and economical to do on-site.
 
Today’s commercial composting solutions take the complex task of responsibly discarding food waste and make it easy for restaurants to implement. Here’s a quick introduction and overview of the leading composting solutions for restaurants from Green Business Bureau.
 
Restaurant Food Waste
 
If you work in a restaurant you know how much food is wasted every single day. According to the ReFED report in Restaurant Hospitality, “The restaurant industry alone generates about 11.4 million tons of food waste annually at a cost of about $25 billion per year.”   The food waste epidemic has garnered nearly as much attention as single-use plastic waste in recent years. The waste is taking up tons of space in our landfills and generates methane gas that is 30 times more insulative of atmospheric heat than the carbon monoxide from our cars.
 
Getting Started with Composting in Your Restaurant
 
There are many different approaches restaurants can take to composting. If winters aren’t too severe where you live, you can mark off an area for a composting station on your property.  If you don’t have the outdoor space or the right weather to compost naturally outdoors, do not worry, it is easy to start composting indoors.
 
Restaurant Business Online does a great job describing composting approaches. The first big distinction is pre- or post-consumer composting. Post-consumer composting of items like plate waste and compostable packaging requires a municipal program or specialized vendor and specialized equipment for sanitation and odor control. Several options are discussed below.  Historically, when restaurants talk about composting, they typically refer to pre-consumer composting of items like fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, and coffee grounds and filters. However post-consumer composting is gaining popularity because of the elegant high-tech solutions that are finally available.
 
COMMERCIAL OUTDOOR COMPOST BINS
 
If you have the outdoor space to house an outdoor commercial composting unit, you can choose the TMK composting machine.
 
TMK Composters can handle almost any food due to its “unique insulation” enabling the composter to be used in any climate and throughout all seasons.  It can create impressive heat and drive very high internal temperatures, which allows you to compost harder materials like fish and small chicken bones, avocado and peach pits, etc.
 
Restaurant sustainability and composting make a difference
 
Being a green restaurant is good for the planet and good for business.
 
Composting is part of that mission. Restaurants that practice sustainability have realized very tangible benefits, including cost savings, and elevated brand, and sales growth. With this in mind, in this article, we’ve presented composting solutions that will help you. To learn more about other green initiatives you can implement, check out the  Green Business Bureau Sustainable Restaurant Guide.  Green Business Bureau has mapped out some simple yet effective green initiatives that should be helpful. Of course, demonstrating your commitment to sustainability will attract customers and keep your employees engaged and happy.