SUMMER 2018 SMART BUSINESS RECYCLING NEWSLETTER
The Food Waste Problem
Each year, more than one billion tons of food is wasted worldwide. In the United States, approximately 40% of all food is wasted. In fact, food is the most common type of waste being sent to landfills. Meanwhile, 1 out of 7 people in Los Angeles County are food insecure (lacking regular access to quality nutritious meals).
What You Can Do to Help
To assist Los Angeles County businesses in donating their excess edible food, the County launched the Food Donation and Recovery Outreach Program, also known as Food DROP. The program website (FoodDROPLA.com) provides information regarding relevant laws, protection from liability, and a tool to locate non-profit agencies which are able to accept edible food.
News
This quarter, the theme of the our Smart Business Newsletter remains food waste prevention and recycling. These articles cover what some businesses and school districts are doing to tackle the food waste problem, including; food donation, share tables at schools, waste reduction, and food waste recycling.
How Food Suppliers, Retailers and Restaurants are Joining Forces to Address Food Waste
Manufacturing, retail, and restaurant industries have joined forces under the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA). Their goals are to prevent food waste, increase donations of surplus food, and recycle unavoidable waste. To read the article, click here.
Estimating Quantities and Types of Food Waste at the City Level
A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) describes the results of a food waste baseline assessment study across various sectors in three U.S. cities. The report highlights opportunities to prevent food waste, rescue surplus food to benefit people in need, and recycle food scraps. To learn more, you may access the report here.
K-12 School Food Recovery Roadmap
A variety of surplus food reduction and recovery initiatives have been implemented at Oakland Unified School District and the San Diego Unified School District, including share tables and food donation programs. To learn more about the school districts’ initiatives and best practices in implementing surplus food reduction and meal recovery programs at their schools, click here.
PepsiCo's Recycle Rally Program Challenges Schools to Reduce Waste, Increase Recycling
Since 2010, PepsiCo’s Recycle Rally program has offered various resources, prizes, and rewards to inspire K-12 students nationwide to become frequent recyclers. The 2017-18 program saw a 450 percent increase in recycling totals from the previous year. To read the article, click here. To learn more about PepsiCo's Recycle Rally program and how your school can sign up in Fall 2018, click here.