Recent restrictions and closures due to COVID-19 may leave your business or institution with excess food in your inventory. Whether you are a restaurant, college or university, supermarket, or other business, consider donating your surplus, edible food to the local community rather than throwing it away. Many food rescue organizations are currently able to distribute…
The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth) was recently awarded the College/University Partner of the Year for the 2018 national WasteWise awards. WasteWise is a free program – sponsored nationally by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and in Massachusetts by the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) – designed to help private and public organizations work to reduce…
Learn about capturing building materials for reuse and recycling from an Auburndale Builders project in Wayland, MA.
On November 8, E.L. Harvey & Sons hosted RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts (RecyclingWorks), the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the 2018 Fall WasteWise Forum. This forum focused on reducing contamination in the recycling stream, an important and timely topic for businesses, institutions, and recyclers. Below we summarize the top five…
Following the success of the Lenox Environmental Committee’s outreach to encourage restaurants in the Town of Lenox to start diverting food scraps for composting, RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts approached the Town of Lee for a similar program. The Lee Greener Gateway Committee and RecyclingWorks reached out to a few dozen restaurants in Lee to promote diverting…
The Huffington Post reports on the Food Recovery Network’s role in reducing the amount of wasted food on college campuses. The article cites RecyclingWorks’ Food Waste Estimation Guide in calculating that an average student living on campus throws away 141 pounds of uneaten food annually. Because of the large volume of wasted food on college…
The Boston Globe reports on BJ’s Wholesale Club’s partnership with Feeding America to help donate surplus food to those in need. BJ’s locations work with 45 local food banks in 15 states including the Greater Boston Food Bank to donate fresh produce, baked goods, dairy products, meat, and fish. GBFB helps to feed as many…
Supermarkets that bale rigid plastics – such as deli containers, floral buckets, and pharmacy bottles – can generate significant revenue. The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) recently created a training video to help grocery stores start baling rigid plastic containers. The APR case study of several methods of disposing of rigid plastics found that…
The RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts program has worked with local health officials to develop recommended Best Management Practices (BMPs) for use by health agents to support and inform local oversight of commercial food waste collection programs. The commercial organics waste disposal ban affects any business or institution that disposes of one ton or more of food…
RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts presents a case study on Johnny’s Luncheonette, an iconic diner in Newton with robust recycling and food waste diversion programs. Johnny’s Luncheonette partners with local environmental groups, such as Green Newton, on a variety of sustainability initiatives, and shares information on their food scraps composting program with customers through interactive signage.
