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Commercial Composting Solutions: A Sustainability Guide for Restaurants

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Commercial Composting Solutions: A Sustainability Guide for Restaurants
Restaurants are composting using new modern equipment that makes it both practical and economical to do on-site.
 
Today’s commercial composting solutions take the complex task of responsibly discarding food waste and make it easy for restaurants to implement. Here’s a quick introduction and overview of the leading composting solutions for restaurants from Creeks Composter.
 
Restaurant Food Waste
 
If you work in a restaurant, you know how much food is wasted every single day. According to the ReFED report in Restaurant Hospitality, “The restaurant industry alone generates about 11.4 million tons of food waste annually at a cost of about $25 billion annually.”   The food waste epidemic has garnered nearly as much attention as single-use plastic waste in recent years. The waste is taking up tons of space in our landfills and generates methane gas that is 30 times more insulating of atmospheric heat than the carbon dioxide from our cars.
 
INDOOR ELECTRIC COMPOSTERS AND FOOD RECYCLERS
 
Electric commercial composting systems are more accurately considered food recyclers since they don’t create the typical compost mix.  These food recyclers break down food waste quickly, using aeration and heat, much like a regular compost pile, but produce an end product that is completely dry and sterile.  Most compost has a high bacteria count and its neutral pH, making it a great fertilizer and topsoil. Food recycler produces a sterile biomass (lacking bacteria) and cannot be immediately used as topsoil.  It will, however, regain much of its bacterial properties once added to garden soil. Bottom line, indoor composters offer fast, odorless, nutrient-rich fertilizer that will regain much of its bacteria once used with soil.
 
Creeks is one of the world’s leading food waste solution providers.  Creeks’ CR-1 is an electric composting unit (9.96 x 9.96 inches wide and 12.44 inches tall) ideal for small-scale waste generators like restaurants and coffee shops.  The CR-1 utilizes microbes to compost food waste in 24 hours, producing a nutrient-rich soil amendment that can be used in gardens.  This restaurant owner’s testimonial summarizes the experience:  “The peelings, the chopping, the leftovers, everything was composted, and it’s a very fast process. It turns to soil overnight,”
 
Getting Started with Composting in Your Restaurant
 
There are many different approaches restaurants can take to composting. If winters aren’t too severe where you live, you can mark off an area for a composting station on your property.  If you don’t have the outdoor space or the right weather to compost naturally outdoors, not to worry, it is easy to start composting indoors.
 
Creeks does a great job of describing composting approaches. The first big distinction is pre- or post-consumer composting. Post-consumer composting of items like plate waste and compostable packaging requires a municipal program or specialized vendor and specialized equipment for sanitation and odor control. Several options are discussed below.  Historically, when restaurants talk about composting, they typically refer to pre-consumer composting of items like fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, and filters. But post-consumer composting is gaining popularity because of the elegant high-tech solutions that are finally available.
Food RecyclerFood Recycler
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HOUSEHOLD COMPOSTER

CR-1 Food Recycler

COMMERCIAL COMPOSTING SOLUTIONS
 
If you have the outdoor space to house an outdoor commercial composting unit, there are many options. Creeks’ commercial composting solutions can process waste from 10 kg to 10 tons per day.
 
Creeks Composters can handle almost any food due to its “unique insulation,” enabling the composter to be used in any climate and throughout all seasons.  It can create impressive heat and drive very high internal temperatures, which allows you to compost harder materials like fish and small chicken bones, avocado and peach pits, etc.
 
Key Considerations for Choosing Commercial Composting Solutions
 
  1. Waste Volume & Type (food waste, yard trimmings, agricultural residues)
  2. Space Availability (windrows need more land than in-vessel systems)
  3. Regulatory Compliance (odor control, emissions, permits)
  4. End-Use of Compost (soil amendment, landscaping, agricultural use)
  5. Cost & ROI (equipment, labor, maintenance vs. savings on waste disposal)
Benefits of Commercial Composting Solutions
 
  • Reduces landfill waste & greenhouse gas emissions
  • Produces valuable compost for soil health
  • Can generate revenue (compost sales, waste processing fees)
  • Helps businesses meet sustainability goals (LEED, Zero Waste certifications)
Restaurant sustainability and composting make a difference
 
Being a green restaurant is good for the planet and good for business. Composting is part of that mission. Restaurants that practice sustainability have realized very tangible benefits, including cost savings, elevated brand, and sales growth. With this in mind, in this article, we’ve presented composting solutions that will help you.