Waste Reduction Strategies

Grocery

Waste Prevention

• Pay attention to expiration dates and keep rotating products for use in the bakery to avoid having to throw them away.
• Use "ugly-but-edible" produce in the bakery or deli to produce salads and baked goods.
• Package leftover deli-case hot food to be sold the next day as "take-out" in the cold case section.
• Train employees to rotate, wash, and trim produce properly.
• Use display tables that minimize handling and spoilage.
• Offer "ugly but edible produce", leftover deli food, and packaged pull-dated food to a local food bank.
• Offer spoiled produce and produce scraps to local farmers.
• Reuse boxes in-house or donate to customers or a local food bank.
• Consider using plastic pallets. Repair broken pallets on-site or use a repair service. Visit the Pallet-Mall or Recyclers World web sites for information on reusing pallets.
• Improve handling practices that cause breakage. Ask suppliers to use sturdier pallets or take back broken ones.
• Ask vendors to retrieve their boxes or sell to a reuse service.
• Sell reusable beverage cups or mugs to customers; provide employees with permanent cups or mugs.
• Ask your vendor to take back and refill cleaning product containers. For more information, see Green Seal's "Choose Green Report."
• Carefully inventory sales of magazines and journals to avoid over purchasing each month. Work with suppliers to allow the donation of unusable publications to schools, libraries, or other charitable organizations.
• See General Tips for basic office waste prevention techniques.

Pharmacy

• Use the first-in, first-out system to rotate chemical stocks, pay attention to expiration dates.
• Buy drugs in container sizes that permit formulation of daily doses with the least quantity of excess product leftover.

Recycling

Examine Your Operations

• Assess your recycling opportunities in each portion of your operations: film processing, bakery, deli, grocery, pharmacy, and nursery.
• Contact your city Recycling Coordinator or Waste Hauler to find out what materials can be collected.
• Set up centrally located recycling collection areas for customers and employees.
• Make sure all containers, including compactors, are clearly marked with signs.
• Educate employees about standards to ensure that all meat waste is discarded in the rendering bin.
• Choose a pallet repair service that accepts all wood waste and recycles what can't be reused.

Composting

• See Waste Reduction Tips for Landscaping.

For more information visit these web sites:

• Composting Council of Canada
• Composting News
• Internet Recycling and Composting Resource Page
• Recyclers World central composting category
• US EPA composting

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