CRRA2020

Sustainability Manager

Monica White is the Sustainability Manager at Edgar and Associates. Monica has over 10 years of experience working in the sustainability arena where she has led teams in developing programs for a range of companies including waste haulers and processors. Monica has played a leadership role in assisting companies to develop strong sustainability and environmental programs, and strategically achieve desired goals, including how to incorporate carbon projects into their businesses to meet their carbon reduction targets.

A Regional Approach to Maximizing Food Recovery

Edible Food Recovery is a focal point of the upcoming SB 1383 Regulations, where jurisdictions, food recovery agencies, waste haulers and businesses are trying to figure out what it means for them as they start working towards compliance. We have found a regional, collaborative coalition provides the most cost-effective and efficient approach to recovering the maximum amount of edible food. By bringing partners together, we can leverage assets, create innovative solutions to systemic challenges and support non-profit agencies that will become the workhorses of food recovery. Edgar & Associates, in partnership with Waste Not Our Communities, has assisted to create the model for collaboration. Through State and regional grants, pilot programs and full implementation we understand the opportunity for California, and the Nation, to significantly improve our approach to edible food recovery. The approach has received attention across the Nation and is now being sought to guide the use of funds, and understand the social and medical cost benefits associated with the recovery of excess edible food. This presentation will discuss an overview of the Coalition approach, the roles and responsibilities of each partner, the most integral aspects of the Coalition, common challenges that hinder effective collaboration and food recovery, cost estimates of a regional approach, the role of the solid waste industry and franchise agreements and examples of implementation throughout California. Focus on how the Coalition meets the needs of SB1383, and the multitude of co-benefits of food recovery, including potential funding will be discussed in detail.

Environmental Scientist

Martine Boswell is an Environmental Scientist in CalRecycle’s Statewide Technical and Analytical Resources Branch. She serves as CalRecycle’s technical advisor on food waste, and provides scientific analyses on California’s food system and climate change. Martine is also engaged in statewide efforts to increase safe surplus food donation in California, and is a member of the CalRecycle team tasked with developing the edible food recovery regulations for California’s short-lived climate pollutant law, Senate Bill 1383. She received her bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the University of California Santa Cruz, and her master’s in environmental studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

SB 1383 Regulatory Requirements for Edible Food Recovery

California’s short-lived climate pollutant law, SB 1383, establishes a statewide target that 20 percent of currently disposed edible food must be recovered for human consumption by 2025. The law also requires CalRecycle to adopt regulations that include requirements intended to meet the 20% edible food recovery goal. In this presentation, Martine Boswell will provide an overview of SB 1383’s edible food recovery regulations, and discuss CalRecycle’s efforts to measure the amount of edible food in California’s disposed waste stream.

Executive Director

Mike Learakos is a Foodservice professional with over 35 years of industry experience as a Restaurateur, manufacturer, processor and distributor.  In addition to being a Restaurateur for 27 years, Mike volunteered to head the Waste Not OC Food Recovery Pilot Program in 2014 becoming the full time Executive Director in 2016.  As the Executive Director, Mike has developed and directed this innovative public/private/non-profit coalition’s efforts to reduce hunger and food waste through the recovery of excess edible food.  Waste Not Our Communities is recognized as the country’s most innovative and effective food recovery program and a national model.

Regional/National Evolution of Food Recovery

We are now in the 'next generation' of food recovery as a means of reducing food waste yet most efforts are still feeling their way through the initial process.  In most cases, jurisdictions are repeating the same hard lessons learned by Waste Not OC three, four and five years ago.  With SB1383 compliance around the corner, it is critical that we elevate the effectiveness of food recovery with large scale regional and national solutions using a collaborative public, private and non-profit coalition approach that allows each city or county to have their own signature programs but provides large scale benfits associated with working nationally.

Waste Not OC (Our Communities) along with Edgar and Associates have created a state model that maximizes those regional and national resources and assets to improve capacity and efficiencies.  We would like to discuss an overview of how a regional/national coalition can exponentially improve performance levels and cost benefits.  We would like to dive into the details of how this approach benefits the public, private and non-profit sectors by fundamentally changing and improving how we reduce food waste and hunger.

Executive Director