On January 22, a webinar hosted by Rubicon will look at food waste regulations from the vantage point of two companies in the food sector. “Understanding Food Waste Regulations and Compliance” at 12:00-1:00 PM Eastern, features Christopher Foote, Wegmans Food Markets’ Sustainability Coordinator and Hadley Laughlin, Senior Project Lead, Sustainability at Chick-fil-A. Rounding out the panel are Nora Goldstein, BioCycle, and Ryan Cooper, Waste Diversion Manager-Organics Recycling Lead at Rubicon.
Wegmans established a formal food waste diversion program in 2011 and Chick-fil-A has food waste diversion initiatives for both edible and inedible streams. The scale between grocery store and quick service restaurant formats is different, as are their operations. The webinar will discuss the types of food waste and food packaging rules that are taking shape across the country and how these organizations view that regulatory landscape. The challenges associated with compliance and lack of organics infrastructure also will be discussed. “We are excited to hear the participants’ perspectives, what works and what doesn’t, and discuss learnings that can help other businesses, municipalities, and lawmakers devise the most effective ways to keep valuable resources out of the landfill,” notes Cooper. In his role at Rubicon, he helps manage thousands of organics recycling programs across North America through partnerships with more than 7,000 vendor and hauler partners as well as composting and anaerobic digestion facilities. Recovering the heavy organic fraction of its clients’ waste streams for beneficial reuse has been a cornerstone of Rubicon’s sustainable materials management programs.
Goldstein will frame current regulatory developments within the larger context of the growing food scraps diversion movement. Foote and Laughlin will describe their companies’ sustainability missions and where organics recycling fits, and offer their views of the regulatory landscape — including policy initiatives related to food donation. The impact of packaging regulations also will be explored.
Registration is free. Time is built into the webinar for Q&A with the panelists.
