San Francisco launches $500 incentive program for restaurants to have reusable instead of disposable foodware

(SAN FRANCISCO) The San Francisco Environment Department (SF Environment) launched a $500 incentive program and encouraged restaurants and cafes to have reusable foodware serve their dine-in customers instead of disposable in order to save money and reduce waste.

The brand new program, Commercial Reuse Program, was launched as part of Small Business Week and became permanent following the pilot program and partnership between ReThink Disposables and SF Environment beginning in 2019.

Under the new program, the restaurants and cafes which sign up via www.SFReuse.org will receive financial assistance to make more sustainable choices, including free technical assistance and a $500 incentive for each business to buy reusable foodware and utensils to replace single-use disposable items.

The target of the new incentive is restaurants and cafes citywide which provide dine-in service for their customers.

The switch to reusables would save money substantially by reducing their need to purchase single-use disposable foodware. On the other hand, the program would ultimately reduce much less waste and lower their refuse costs in which the rate is based on the quantity of waste.

According to SF Environment, restaurants and cafes to qualify for the program must provide on-site dining, be located in San Francisco, and currently use single-use disposables for dine-in customers.

The incentive program will run for two years and provide up to $500 for each restaurant that signs up. The Commercial Reuse Program will offer the related technical assistance to 200 restaurants each year. Staff at the restaurants and cafes will be trained to handle reusable foodware, including how to incorporate washing and bussing into their food service routine.

“We all share the responsibility to advance our goals for climate health and resiliency, and while San Francisco leads the nation in sustainability, there’s still a lot of work we must do,” said Mayor London Breed to announce the Commercial Reuse Program.

"As the City continues to support small business recovery, it's clear from this program that reusables not only help save money for the business, it helps advance San Francisco’s Climate Action Goals to reduce solid waste generation 15% below 2015 levels and reduce disposal to landfill 50% below 2015 levels by 2030," Breed added.

“Our restaurants are the heart and soul of San Francisco,” said Tyrone Jue, Acting Director of SF Environment. “By going green and saving with reusables, this program proves that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand.”

“All businesses are still recovering from the economic devastation of COVID-19, and every dollar counts,” said Katy Tang, Director of the Office of Small Business. “This is an incredible opportunity for businesses to save money and practice sustainably.”

During the pilot program starting in 2019, SF Environment enrolled 120 businesses and achieved significant financial and environmental results by purchasing fewer single-use items, which led to the reduction of their disposal needs and their refuse collection costs.

Two Chinese restaurants, Hong Kong Bakery in the Excelsior/Outer Mission neighborhood and House of Dim Sum in Chinatown, are among the enrollees in the pilot program.

The case study in the House of Dim Sum indicates that the owner is saving $33,561 a year, while her customers use stainless steel, durable baskets, and reusable plates when dining in the restaurant. In the meantime, the owner is able to reduce over 2.2 million single-use items of disposables.

Hong Kong Bakery saves $4,423 annually by having the reusable foodware for its dine-in customers instead of serving the food with disposables. The owner can also reduce to generate 61,239 disposable items, weighing a total of 0.7 tons, according to SF Environment.