New guide: Best practices for building a single-use item reduction strategy

Environmental sustainability is a growing area of concern for today’s restaurants. In fact, nine out of 10 foodservice operators responding to a recent survey by Restaurants Canada said they plan to continue or increase their current level of environmentally sustainable operations over the next three years.

Across Canada, restaurateurs are navigating a complex policy environment impacting their day-to-day business operations. This includes responding to rising pressures to reduce single-use items while still meeting the needs of customers seeking convenience. Diners are increasingly expecting to be able to consume food and drinks on-the-go, or through delivery, and restaurants need to be able to provide this service with safe, practical materials that guarantee food safety and accessibility.

Awareness around the environmental impact of plastic straws has recently become a major catalyst for change. Industry data indicates that approximately four million straws are used in Canadian foodservice establishments daily.

While a large proportion of waste from single-use items is generated outside of foodservice establishments, restaurants recognize the impact of their operations on the environment, public concerns and the need to show continued leadership.

That is why Restaurants Canada has developed a Single-Use Items Reduction Strategy Guide.

This resource features:

• Facts about the role of single-use items in foodservice
• An overview of the evolving regulatory landscape impacting the restaurant industry
• A checklist of best practices that foodservice operators can use to build strategies that will work for their unique business realities

Restaurants Canada is committed to supporting ongoing efforts to improve environmental sustainability within the foodservice industry and will continue to update and build upon this guide so that it remains relevant for Canadian restaurateurs.

Check back for more updates and feel free to get in touch with any questions or comments about this resource, or any experiences or best practices that you would like to share.