GM Renaissance Center Composting Food Scraps

Today, few restaurants, or even companies in America, can tote their environmental conservationism or waste prevention initiatives. With the steady rise of global warming and a seeming disregard for preserving the planets resources it is refreshing to hear that GM has been introducing a new initiative to reuse their refuse for more sustainable projects.

General Motors has been pushing this initiative primarily in their Renaissance Center. While many of their centers have become landfill-free, the Renaissance Center says that there is more to improve and reduce their environmental impact. The center boasts their largest and most complex site as it is the only one of 111 sites that is open to the public. As the largest of their sites it has been able to supply a wide array of renewable efforts to reuse their waste products.

First implemented by executive chef Andiamo Riverfront this past April, the program has helped turn what would normally be unusable trash into both energy for local Detroit businesses and green urban gardening projects. General Motors has partnered with urban farming initiatives like Detroit Dirt to start implementing city gardens throughout the streets. They have already succeeded in installing 16 raised garden beds on top of the nearby Beaubien parking garage rooftop. Moreover, some of the waste has been converted into renewable energy for Detroit businesses. The waste is often converted into energy at a nearby facility a few blocks away from the Renaissance Center. This has allowed for a more efficient recycling process.

The complex has gone through about 12,000 pounds of food scraps since its inception in the spring and is due to hit their mark of 51,000 tons by the end of the year. While initially this seemed like a tough order to fill the amount of waste has been surprisingly high. Chefs who worked at the Renaissance Center restaurants predicted that they would fill around one container a week, but have realistically been going through two canisters per day. This high volume of vegetable and other food refuse combined with the addition of other restaurants fulfilling the same order in June, including Joe Muer Seafood, Presto Gourmet Deli, Coach Insignia, Coffee Beanery and Potbelly Sandwich Works, has helped to meet such a high mark. Every scrap of chopped potato, onion, celery, and other vegetable garbage has been placed into specially marked containers for later transportation. Many of the chefs remark about how much waste we go through in a given day, which makes it all the more comforting for them that they are being so much more efficient.