Back of House Tour: Dealing with Food Waste

Touring back of house at the Grand Hyatt New York during the BSR2012 Conference, we had the opportunity to observe their sustainable practices.  Chef Nick Rutyna; Dimitrios Mantzouranis, Executive Steward; and Wan Yi Tang, Convention Services Manager, showed us the kitchen, back docks, purchasing and recycling areas.

One of their proudest moments was showing us this hard-working machine.

This is the end of the line for the dishwasher that takes the food from scraped plates, dehydrates the waste, and deposits it into a can for composting.  The scraps are picked up daily from the back dock (along with the compostable disposable cups used at the property).

Bottom line:  This unit has cut food waste down to 1/8th of its former volume.  With no charge in the city for compost hauling, they estimate a total cost savings of 35% from the waste hauling bill.  Not to mention the additional space now available on the small back dock which serves this very large hotel.

Their team is very excited about the environmental practices they have been able to put into place and look forward to continuing their work toward a greener tomorrow.