TAQUERIA 27

RESTAURANT COMPOSTING PROPOSAL

Victoria OBrien
General Manager
[email protected]

Prepared for:
Todd Gardinar
Kristin Gardinar
Proposal Date: September 17, 2017
Owners
TAQUERIA 27
RESTAURANT COMPOSTING PROPOSAL

CONTENTS

Executive Summary........................................................................................2

Description.....3

Implementation.4

Timeline and Cost.5

Potential Benefits and Looking Forward6

References...7

1
Executive Summary

As a recipient of one of the Utah Business Associations 2015 Green

Business Awards, Taqueria 27 strives to be an industry leader in innovation
and environmental sustainability.

Many of the processes and standards we have implemented as a company

reflect our desire to care not only for our guests and employees, but also for
the local and global community that we are a part of.

Coupled with our companys current recycling program, a composting

program is the next step toward reducing Taqueria 27s environmental
impact.

According to the Green The Green Restaurant Association

Restaurant Association, each estimates that nearly 95% of waste
year in the United States, a single produced by restaurants can be
restaurant can contribute nearly recycled or composted.
100,000 pounds of waste to local
landfills. Non-
Recyclable
and
Consequences of not recycling Compostable
and composting include: Waste
5%

Overflowing landfills
Ground, water, and air Recyclable
pollution and
Compostable
Long term economic Waste
95%
losses due to
unsustainable resource
management

2
Description

This project will require collaborating with a third-party company, Wasatch

Resource Recovery, as well as, our current waste management company,
Ace Recycling and Disposal.

Once we have partnered with Wasatch Resource Recovery, we will receive

a designated food waste container that will store the restaurants food
waste and will be collected weekly by our current waste management
company and transported to the Wasatch Resource Recovery facility where
it will undergo the composting process resulting in the capturing of natural
gas to power homes and the end product compost will be used to fertilize
local farms.

Requirements

Partnership with Wasatch Resource Recovery

and Ace Recycling
Food waste collection containers provided by
Wasatch Resource Management
Approval for food waste collection container
storage in parking lot behind the building
Food waste collection containers for staff use
inside of restaurant
Staff environmental training

3
Implementation

Phase 1:

Contact Wasatch Resource Recovery to discuss the cost of establishing the

composting program, as well as, program specifics such as:

When food waste pickups occur and how often

What size options are available for the food waste collection bins
What size option would be appropriate for our restaurant volume
What items can be composted and what items cannot be composted

Phase 2:

Once cost is determined the project proposal will be submitted to the owners of
Taqueria 27 for consideration and modification if necessary.

Additionally, the project proposal will be submitted to our neighboring businesses to

suggest the option of sharing the food waste bin, as well as sharing the cost and the
benefits of this program.

The project proposal will also be submitted to the owners of the parking lot behind the
restaurant for their approval of the additional waste bin.

Phase 3:

After project approval is gained we can immediately begin training both Front of
House and Back of House staff members on what items will be placed in the food
waste bins before we launch the program so staff will be aware of the operation
changes.

We will order additional waste bins for staff use to collect food waste throughout the
shift After the shift staff will take food waste to the storage bin outside for pickup.

Phase 4:

Wasatch Resource Recovery will deliver our food waste storage bin and schedule
pickups with our current waste management company, Ace Recycling and Disposal.

4
Timeline and Cost

Wasatch Resource Recovery composting facility is currently slated to be

open in the fall of 2018. This allows us time to establish the cost, program
specifics and begin the implantation program in the present to be
prepared in advance of the facility opening.

5
Potential Benefits and Looking Forward
Environmental and Community Benefits of Composting:

As food waste decomposes it creates methane gas, a harmful greenhouse gas that traps heat in
the atmosphere. The EPA estimates that nearly 17% of the total greenhouse gas emissions for the
United States is the result of methane gases produced in our countrys landfills.

The Wasatch Resource Recovery facility traps and collects the methane gas produced during
decomposition, keeping it from entering the atmosphere and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The collected methane is then used to power local homes and businesses.

The Wasatch Resource Recovery facility is expected to produce enough gas to power 40,000
homes, a city the size of Bountiful.

Additionally, composting food waste creates a nutrient rich fertilizer without harmful chemicals
that local farms can utilize to increase production.

Company Benefits:

By enrolling in this program, it provides the opportunity to show our guests, employees, and our
community that we strive to be an environmentally sustainable business. Nearly 32% of restaurant
guests consider the potential green-ness of a business when making their decision to dine at an
establishment.

Finally, composting programs significantly decrease the waste removal costs of a business.
Morgan Bowerman, recovery resource and sustainability manager for Wasatch Resource
Recovery explains that this composting program can reduce the cost of food waste removal for
businesses by roughly two-thirds. The reduction of waste removal costs directly impacts our
bottom-line profits and this money can be reinvested in other areas of our company.

YEARLY COST COMPARISON

Expected Waste Removal Cost with Composting Program
Current Waste Removal Cost

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Dollar Cost

6
References
Proposal Prepared By:

Victoria OBrien

General Manager
Why Compost? (2016, December 9). Retrieved September 10, 2017, from
(785)-236-0677
http://www.dinegreen.com/single-post/2016/12/09/Why-Compost.
[email protected]
How it Works: Diverting Organic Waste to the Anaerobic Digester. (2016).
Retrieved September 10, 2017, from
http://wasatchresourcerecovery.com/how-it-works/.

Kelly Gifford. (2017, June 10). Utah Facility Can Turn Food Waste into Enough
Natural Gas to Power a Small City. Retrieved September 10, 2017, from
http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php=5398548&itype=CMSID.

Heather Kolakowski. The Benefits and Challenges of Food Service

Composting Programs. Retrived September 10, 2017, from
http://hotelexecutives.com/business_review/4734/the-benefits-and-
challenges-of-fodd-service-composting-programs.

Photos Credit of:

Alexphotos - Freepik.com

Wasatch Resource Recovery:

1380 West Center Street
North Salt Lake, UT 84054
http://wasatchresourcerecovery.com