Building a Culture of Composting in Greater Chicagoland

Client

Illinois Extension

Sector

Caterers, Food Service, Grocery Stores, Hunger Relief Agencies, Restaurants/Bars, Retail, Small Businesses

Location

Greater Chicagoland, Illinois

Services

Fostering Sustainable Behavior, Implementation Assistance, Resilient Solutions, Stakeholder Engagement, Waste Management

Background

In fall 2022, University of Illinois Extension received funding from the Extension Foundation USDA-NIFA New Technologies in Ag Extension (NTAE) program for the expansion of its “Building a Culture of Composting in Greater Chicagoland” project. This project aims to divert food scraps and organic waste from landfills through educational efforts on the benefits of composting. Before receiving this grant, Illinois Extension partnered with community organizations on Chicago’s south side, worked with Chicago Public Schools, and promoted composting through “Pumpkin Smash” and other events in Cook County. Grant funds have allowed for the expansion of efforts to Lake and McHenry counties, and collar counties. Illinois Extension also hosted a regional compost summit in May 2023. The Technical Assistance Program (TAP) collaborated on the project to provide food waste technical assistance for small businesses.

Approach

TAP recruited five small food businesses (e.g., restaurants, independent grocery stores, caterers, bakeries) to receive free assistance (expenses covered by the NTAE grant). TAP prioritized partnerships in communities overburdened by environmental issues and lacking resources, as defined by the Climate & Economic Justice Screen Tool. Reducing food waste may help businesses save money, reduce their environmental footprint, feed their community, and demonstrate their commitment to sustainability. Interested businesses filled out a short application to verify eligibility and clarify required participant time commitments. TAP worked with the five selected participants from March-August 2023. TAP had initial conversations with each participating business to review operations and provide an overview of strategies and reasons for reducing food waste. Next, TAP staff provided on-site facility assessments of current conditions, infrastructure, and processes. TAP then conducted a food waste audit for each participating facility, resulting in an initial recommendation report and associated resources. TAP reviewed recommendations with the participant facilities and worked with them to plan implementation. Participants were eligible for project funding to pilot a commercial compost hauling service (for up to 5 months). Finally, after and/or during implementation, TAP convened the five participating organizations for a feedback session so they could share challenges, barriers, and lessons learned. Participants’ efforts were summarized in a case study at the end of the project (see the Results section below). Ultimately, the goal was to guide interested businesses through assessing current operations and waste generation to identify opportunities to prevent and reduce food waste. Subsequent implementation assistance will hopefully lead to overall waste reduction and increased composting at participating facilities.

Results

Descriptions of the five participating businesses, results of their food waste audits, a summary of recommendations made, project outcomes, and challenges faced by participants are outlined in the project case study below. Food Waste Technical Assistance for Small Businesses (2023)