Panera Bread Tackles the Urban Waste Problem in New York City

Panera Bread has brought an innovative solution to restaurant waste management in Manhattan.

Panera Bread entered the Manhattan market in style by opening its 1,500th café in February of 2012 at 330 7th Avenue at 29th Street. They have since opened three additional cafés: East 86th Street, Fifth Avenue at 40th Street, and Union Square.

These new Manhattan cafés are following the trend set by other Panera Bread locations in areas like San Francisco, CA and Lakewood, WA. They are including an indoor trash compactor manufactured by Global Trash Solutions of Palm Beach, FL in their building plans in order to reduce waste removal costs and maximize efficiency. Food waste management solutions like these can reduce costs beyond garbage hauling.

“I believe the trash compactor is absolutely necessary for restaurants in the urban market,” commented Patrick Fitzgerald, the Joint-Venture Partner who manages the four new locations in Manhattan. “It saves us money on payroll because we don’t have to make ten trips out to the curb to put the trash out at night, and it saves us a lot of space because we would have a room full of trash if it wasn’t for the compactor.”

Food Waste Management Solutions Lower Costs for Restaurants

The GTS 2000 compactor, which was originally manufactured for fast-food restaurant waste management and reconfigured for use in urban areas to reduce the weight of the bags, compacts fifteen bags of trash into one. Compacting trash saves space and reduces the amount of time carting companies spend at each stop, which, in turn, lowers the cost of disposal. The compactor also reduces the number of trips haulers have to make to locations that have dumpsters, which lowers their fuel costs and reduces their carbon footprint.

New York City Commercial Trash Hauling Concerns

After years of consideration and studies, NYC has proposed a law to regulate commercial trash hauling in order to reduce its environmental and traffic impact.¹ The proposal would divide the city into zones which are served by designated waste disposal carriers. While this achieves many positive goals for the city, many restaurant owners are concerned that prices will rise and pick-ups may be less reliable.

With changes like these on the horizon for many large urban areas across the country, many restaurants are considering ways to reduce their reliance on large volume pick-ups and how to manage their restaurant waste disposal more efficiently. Like Panera Bread, partnering with an industry leader like Global Trash Solutions can help you reduce costs and reclaim more valuable recyclables.

Reducing Costs for Restaurant Waste Disposal

Working with consultants who understand the needs of hotels and restaurants will provide effective, efficient, and cost-saving food waste management solutions to your business. With an in-depth analysis of your production of food waste and packaging, our experts can recommend a complete system of trash compactors and industrial balers for indoor and outdoor locations.

Your consultation and evaluation are free and can help improve all stages of your waste management process, resulting in not just lowering hauling costs, but lowering labor costs and storage space and reducing handling. Call or contact us today to find out how Global Trash Solutions is partnering with both large and small restaurants nationwide.

Source:

1. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/features/commercial-trash-collections-looming-overhaul-causes-concerns