CHAMPAIGN, Ill., 1/2/24: In an Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) pilot project, a few small food businesses in Chicago learned that there are other, feasible options for handling wasted food than throwing it away. Composting, for one, works well for businesses that have access to compost hauling services.

The ISTC Technical Assistance Program (TAP) helps businesses and industry find solutions to reduce waste and use sustainable technologies. For this project, TAP staff hoped to make a difference working with owners of small businesses in disadvantaged communities that lack resources and are often overlooked for funding, according to Zach Samaras, ISTC technical assistance engineer and project director. The project is part of the University of Illinois Extension program, Building a Culture of Composting in Greater Chicagoland.

The five businesses in the case study included the Abiding Love Food Pantry in Zion, IL; Casa Central, a Latino social services agency with a full kitchen on site, located in Humboldt Park; Food He.ro, a Latino-led culinary school and grocery store in the Little Village; Khepri Café, a café and kitchen in Albany Park; and Tom’s Place, a full-service breakfast and lunch restaurant in the Back of the Yards community.

After touring the businesses, Samaras and staff collected, sorted, and weighed two days-worth of waste and recycling to determine how much could be composted. Results showed that more than 60 percent of all material sorted could be handled this way. The waste audit illustrated the amount of waste each day that these businesses produce.

“Most business owners probably think that they don’t waste that much so showing them the data was really eye-opening for them,” Samaras said. “It helped people put into perspective that the amounts get pretty big, pretty fast. It also helped them to get on board, to understand the issue and what they can do about it.”

TAP provided funding for compost hauling services and staff gave individualized recommendations and helped set up compost bins and coordinated services. Some of the challenges to initiate composting and reduce waste by other means were physical space issues in tight kitchens and the importance of staff on different shifts communicating about prioritizing foods for future shifts so less food is wasted.

Samaras did find, though, that kitchen staff were receptive to suggestions. Besides composting, other waste-reduction measures were suggested, such as preventing food waste, for example, by highlighting food soon to expire, donating food, and recycling food scraps.

"It tends to be the case that people who work with food are conscious of food waste and want to do a better job, but they are busy folks,” Samaras said. “They don’t have time to be looking up storage techniques.”

One of the five businesses was unable to initiate a composting program because they are located outside of Chicago where there are few compost haulers to service the area. The other four businesses were interested and committed to continuing their program after the funding ends.

For more information, read the case study, Food Waste Technical Assistance for Small Businesses. The project was funded by an NTAE Extension Foundation Expansion Grant. ISTC’s TAP program helps to make companies and communities in Illinois more competitive and resilient.

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Media contact: Zach Samaras, 217-265-6723, zsamaras@illinois.edu