Reduce Wasted Food and Enhance Your Business Culture
Reducing wasted food is about building a responsible business that prioritizes its people, customers, and the planet.
Free Assistance to Reduce Wasted Food for Rhode Island Businesses
Our customized business assistance programs helps you build a workplace that values sustainability, fosters happier employees, and engages customers who share your commitment to making a difference.
Who uses the assistance?
Rhode Island businesses and institutions of all sizes—such as grocery stores, restaurants, event centers, correctional facilities, colleges, universities, K-12 schools—along with municipalities, organics recycling facilities (like composting and anaerobic digestion), food relief organizations, and others, are all eligible for assistance.
“When Stop & Shop offered 17 pallets of short-coded corn, Greater Boston Food Bank couldn’t handle it all. CET stepped in, connecting the Elisha Project and Riverside Church to pick up and distribute the corn. The fresh produce, often skipped by low-income families, was distributed quickly.”
Riverside Church
Director of Sustainability
“CET has been essential in helping Midtown Oyster Bar improve our food waste recycling. With their support, we composted 34 tons of food waste in one year and reduced contamination through bilingual staff training. Their guidance strengthened our sustainability efforts and partnership with The Compost Plant, allowing us to divert more waste from landfills.”
Midtown Oyster Bar
General Manager
“CET helped Apponaug Brewing cut food waste by focusing on portion control and repurposing ingredients, reducing 24 quarts of fries wasted weekly. Staff training and food donation efforts lowered costs and benefited the community, giving us a competitive edge.”
Apponaug Brewing Company
BrewEO of Apponaug
Our Approach: Personal and Practical
Each business is unique, which is why our assistance is tailored to your specific needs. We focus on hands-on, practical strategies that can be seamlessly integrated into your existing operations.
When your business takes steps to reduce wasted food, you’re doing more than improving operations—you’re fostering a sense of responsibility among staff and customers alike.
Reducing wasted food ensures your business complies with Rhode Island State’s Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling law, avoiding penalties, while engaging employees in sustainability efforts strengthens team morale and job satisfaction. By showing your commitment to sustainability, you also attract conscious customers and build lasting loyalty.
FAQs:
No, CET is a non-regulatory entity that helps businesses and other organizations comply with New York’s mandatory Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law, improve operations, and reduce the amount of food going into the trash. We’re here to listen to your needs, answer questions, and help you achieve your goals.
Effective January 1, 2022, the NYS Food Donation and Food Scrap Recycling Law requires businesses and institutions that generate at least 2 tons of wasted food per week to donate excess edible food and recycle all remaining food scraps if they are are within 25 miles of an organics recycling facility, such as a compost site, anaerobic digester facility, or animal feed operation.
Reducing wasted food enhances your business’s reputation and contribution to the community. Also, by minimizing wasted food from the start or donating surplus food, businesses can reduce disposal costs and potentially qualify for tax benefits.
We offer customized solutions tailored to your business’s specific needs, including on-site visits, virtual consultations, and ongoing support.
FAQs:
New York businesses—including grocery stores, restaurants, event centers, colleges, universities, K-12 schools, municipalities, organics recycling facilities (such as composting and anaerobic digestion), food relief organizations, and others—are eligible for assistance.
This applies to both businesses or institutions subject to New York’s Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law, as well as those that are not.
Our assistance is available at no cost to businesses, municipalities, and others in New York. This program is funded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and delivered under contract by CET.
Depending on the organization’s needs, we can provide a virtual visit, on-site visit, or assistance via phone and email.
During the site-visit (in-person or virtually), a Specialist will learn more about your operations and develop a list of potential solutions. For businesses, this can include a review of your current waste contract to identify potential opportunities for efficiency and cost savings. For organic recycling facilities, this could include a review of operations to determine means to improve or expand operations. After the site visit, we will conduct research on your behalf and deliver a report with customized recommendations for your organization, along with direct assistance to implement one or more of our recommendations.
These events offer valuable insights, resources, and strategies to help businesses reduce waste, improve sustainability, and comply with the state’s waste reduction initiatives.
Real Stories, Real Impact
The results are undeniable. Businesses that partner with CET typically see a 30% reduction in wasted food, translating to stronger community impact.
Not only that, but with our no-cost assistance 9 out of 10 businesses experience cost neutrality or cost savings after implementing wasted food solutions.
With CET’s ongoing support, these businesses continue to thrive, showing that sustainable practices aren’t just good for the planet—they’re great for business too.
Rhode Island resources
Learn, download & be a sustainable partner by sharing resources to connect businesses with assistance to reduce waste, improve their bottom line, employee job satisfaction, and respond to customer demands for sustainable practices.
Share Table and Food Donation Rhode Island
Discover resources and expert assistance to help Rhode Island businesses reduce food waste, comply with…
Relish Rhody – Rhode Island Food Strategy
Explore Rhode Island’s comprehensive plan for a sustainable, equitable food system, promoting local food, economic…
RHODE ISLAND WASTED FOOD stakeholder engagement and initial findings
Explore findings from Rhode Island’s wasted food stakeholder engagement, highlighting successes, challenges, and opportunities for…
Panel Discussion: Business Leaders on Reducing and Composting Food Waste Rhode Island
Join the CET and a selection of businesses and services providers for a panel discussion…
The importance of food donation in rhode island
The video highlights the roles of surplus food recovery and distribution organizations and showcases the…
Hope & Main: Nurturing Culinary Dreams & Sustainability through Waste Reduction
Discover how CET helped a small business achieve significant energy savings and reduce its carbon…
North Scituate Elementary Spotlight
Explore innovative sustainability initiatives at North Scituate Elementary School in this insightful spotlight document from…
Rhode Island Wasted Food Reduction: From Policy to Practice
Guide on Rhode Island’s Food Waste Ban, providing strategies for businesses to reduce waste, save…
Wasted Food Solutions: Spotlights from Providence
With approximately 17,000 students and 3,800 faculty and staff, meal planning across the University of…
Sustainable Partners · Rhode Island
Sharable resources to connect businesses with waste reduction assistance for better profits, happier employees, and…
Wasted Food Solutions: Rhode Island Spotlights to Inspire
In Rhode Island, food accounts for 35% of all waste landfilled. While specific initiatives are…
Apponaug Brewing Company
Apponaug Brewing Company (Apponaug) is a brewery and taproom located in Warwick, Rhode Island. Located…
Bans and beyond designing and implementing organic waste bans and mandatory organics recycling laws
Bans and beyond designing and implementing organic waste bans and mandatory organics recycling laws
Northeast Anaerobic Digester Accelerator – Food Waste Digestion Insights
Anaerobic Digester Accelerator
Crossing State Lines: Getting the most out of radius provisions in food waste disposal laws
Crossing State Lines, getting the most out of radius provisions in food waste disposal laws
EPA Wasted Food Scale
CET utilizes the EPA’s Wasted Food Scale as a guiding tool to assist businesses, including restaurants, universities, colleges, event organizers, supermarkets, churches, etc. Discover relevant and partner resources on how to reduce the environmental impact of wasted food in your business across the scale.
