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Recycling Works posts BMPs for reusable takeout containers; implementation guide due Feb. 2025
Summary
MassDEP-funded Recycling Works convened stakeholders across the Northeast and released best management practices for reusable food-service containers. An interactive implementation guide for food establishments is scheduled for February 2025.
MassDEP staff and partner Recycling Works said they published best management practices for reusable food-service containers and will publish an interactive implementation guide in February 2025.
Claudine Elian, chief of the commercial waste reduction branch at MassDEP, told the Reduce and Reuse Working Group on Jan. 22 that Recycling Works coordinated three stakeholder working groups over 12 months and consulted Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials, local health departments, colleges, reusable-ware organizations and food-service industry representatives.
“The BMP was officially posted in November of just this last year, 2024, and can be found at recyclingworksma.com/reusablecontainersguidance,” Claudine said. She said the implementation guide will include a checklist and interactive format intended to help food establishments organize procedures and present information during inspections.
Claudine listed the intended audiences for the guidance: restaurants and other food establishments, colleges and universities, hotels, grocers, corporate and hospital cafeterias, caterers and stadiums that currently use disposable to‑go food containers and service ware. She also said the guidance was promoted to health-department contacts and associations including the Massachusetts Health Officers Association, the Massachusetts Environmental Health Association and the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards.
MassDEP staff said Recycling Works — a program supported by MassDEP and the Center for EcoTechnology — will promote the implementation guide and offer technical assistance through Recycling Works’ existing outreach channels.
The guidance and forthcoming implementation tool are intended to help health officials, recycling coordinators and businesses navigate operational, health and recycling considerations for shifting from disposable single‑use containers to reuse systems.
