A state mandate to reduce organic food waste from landfills went into effect in April. To help the city fulfill regulations, Oceanside launched a food waste pilot study this month with seven of the city’s approximately 200 restaurants. The study will determine a baseline of restaurant food waste and best practices to further reduce waste.
Pioneering the city’s efforts are Barrel Republic, In-N-Out Burger, Local Tap House & Kitchen, Mission Marketplace, The Privateer Coal Fire Pizza, The Whet Noodle, and Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub. The restaurants will work with the city to isolate food waste, and keep data on it. Then collected food waste will be composted at the El Corazon Compost Facility.
Colleen Foster, city solid waste and recycling senior management analyst, said the pilot study purposely includes restaurants of different sizes and cooking practices. “The pilot list includes a variety of food serving establishments from farm to table, to large scale, quality fast food,” Foster said.
The study will provide a snapshot of the amount and types of food waste produced by different food generators. That information will help determine best practices for a citywide large scale organics program, which will include education, tools and collection services.
The pilot study that launched on Sept. 1, takes a first look at food waste and disposal practices. Each participating restaurant is provided training, checklists and labeled containers that designate where waste ends up, whether in the landfill, recycling facility, or organics composting site.
The organics stream is further separated into a pre-consumer stream, such as preparation food scraps, and post-consumer stream, like plate waste.
To read the full story, visit https://www.thecoastnews.com/2016/09/09/oceanside-teams-up-with-city-restaurants-to-find-best-practices-to-reduce-organic-food-waste/.