In order to comply with the new regulations, restaurants in Brooklyn, New York have to find ways to handle their food waste and achieve sustainability. Companies can hire a private transporter, self-transport or process their food waste on-site, as long as the material is intended for beneficial use, such as compost or anaerobic digestion. This is a method of generating renewable energy. Additionally, businesses can look into working with startups like Peat, which collects food waste from restaurants and hotels and uses it to grow mushrooms.
To reduce waste, some establishments are delivering food and coffee in reusable containers in bulk, eliminating single-use items like sugar packs in favor of dispensers, and creating a “library of small cups” of reusable to-go cups that customers can take with them on their next visit. While reusable menstrual products are becoming increasingly popular, restaurants obviously can't force their customers to use them. However, some restaurants are taking out the trash differently by operating under a zero-waste policy. This means that they don't send any garbage or food waste that enters their businesses to a landfill.
Chef Doug McMaster of the London restaurant Silo is considered by some to be the best waste-free restaurant in the world. He only serves a fixed menu. At West~Bourne, a Californian-inspired café in New York's Soho that's open all day, zero waste means weighing compost, recycling and trash every day. To achieve this goal, restaurants have to work with smaller, local suppliers instead of major food suppliers who often ship their products in disposable materials. Meeting the city's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals is critical according to New York Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia.
To do this, businesses need to find ways to reduce their waste and become more sustainable. By hiring private transporters or working with startups like Peat, eliminating single-use items and creating reusable containers for customers, restaurants can make a difference in achieving sustainability.
