Montgomery County Commercial Food Scraps Partnership Program Hits Milestone with 200,000 Pounds of Food Waste Recycled

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, March 10, 2021

The Montgomery County Commercial Food Scraps Recycling Partnership Program of the County’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently reached a major milestone as it surpassed 200,000 pounds of food scraps collected and recycled into a beneficial soil amendment. The program’s success is due largely to the participation of commercial partners who, despite the unexpected challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, started the program in 2020. 

Eleven initial partners joined the program, with each responsible for separating pre-consumer food scraps for recycling collection. DEP’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Section provides training and education, educational materials, 35-gallon food scraps recycling collection containers, compostable bags and food scraps recycling collection service three times per week. 

The collected food scraps are transported to the Prince George’s County Western Branch Organics Composting Facility. At that facility, the food scraps are mixed with yard trim materials and processed and marketed as a commercial product called “Leafgro Gold.”  

“Think about it—200,000 pounds of food scraps that would have gone in the trash was instead converted to compost and is serving a new purpose,” said DEP Director Adam Ortiz “All of this is due to the commitment from our commercial partners. We know 2020 was a very difficult year for these businesses, and yet, they understand the importance of protecting our environment and the steps they can take to reduce waste.” 

“Increasing recycling of food scraps from the commercial sector is an important part of our zero waste goals,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “Our partners have shown that recycling food scraps benefits both their business and the environment at the same time. I look forward to seeing this program grow.”  

The commercial partners in the first phase of DEP’s Commercial Food Scraps Recycling Partnership Program included: 

• Chevy Chase Country Club, Chevy Chase
• GSK, Rockville
• John L. GildnerRegional Institute for Children & Adolescents, Rockville  
• Kenwood Country Club, Bethesda
• Purée Artisan Juice Bar, Rockville
• Qiagen, Germantown
• QuartermaineCoffee Roasters (Bethesda location), Bethesda 
• Relish Catering LLC, Rockville
• Shepherd’s Table, Silver Spring
• Simply Fresh Events Catering, Gaithersburg 
• So What Else, Inc., Rockville

“What an incredible accomplishment,” said Laura Calderone, owner of Relish Catering, LLC. “We are so excited for the program and the County. We joined the program because we believe, as a food business, it is our responsibility to take care of earth which gives us so many beautiful food products from fruits and vegetables to the animals raised off the land, air and water.  Additionally, we need to leave our community better than we find it, which certainly includes limiting food waste and removing food waste from the general trash. We love this program because, not only is it good for the environment, but Montgomery County does an incredible job supplying materials for the program and communicating any changes to the pickup schedule etc.  It honestly takes very little effort on our end outside of training our staff what could be composted.  We look forward to this program expanding and creating a healthier environment for generations to come.” 

Matt Phelan, president of Simply Fresh Events Catering, said: “Simply Fresh Events is excited to be a part of the Commercial Food Scraps Partnership Program as it shows our commitment to the environment and reducing our impact.  We love how organized the process has been and how smooth it was to get started. We are extremely happy with the program.”  

The Commercial Food Scraps Recycling Program will continue to add partners in 2021. More information on the program can be found at MontgomeryCountyMD.gov/FoodScraps or by contacting Eileen Kao at: Eileen.Kao@MontgomeryCountyMD.gov. 

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Release ID: 21-167
Media Contact: Cindy Pena 202-875-1563
Categories: Environment