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July 24, 2024
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How aerobic digesters help reduce food waste in Chick-fil-A restaurants
When people think about innovation at Chick-fil-A® restaurants, efficient drive-thru lanes or unique seasonal menu items might come to mind. But our commitment to pursuing what’s next also applies to how we approach sustainability efforts across the Chick-fil-A system.
As Chick-fil-A, Inc. and Chick-fil-A restaurants work together to reduce food waste, select local Owner-Operators in the U.S. and Canada are leveraging innovative technology like the ORCA™ digester system to help tackle this challenge.
What is an ORCA digester?
Using a natural biological process, the ORCA aerobic food waste digester breaks down food waste into a liquid that is safe for municipal wastewater treatment plants. It uses air, water and microbiology to transform food scraps into an effluent that is further recycled at water treatment facilities.
Why is this important?
For Restaurants where composting resources aren’t as readily available, this presents a viable and sustainable food waste solution. The process creates no solid byproduct, eliminating the need for additional handling, expensive hauling and saving the carbon emissions that would otherwise be generated by garbage trucks.
This food waste recycling solution demonstrates Chick-fil-A, Inc.’s commitment to identifying new ways to help local Restaurant Owner-Operators prioritize environmental stewardship and reduce the footprint of their Restaurants.
What do participating Chick-fil-A Owner-Operators say about this technology?
Tom Balsamides, the local Owner-Operator of Chick-fil-A Scenic Highway in Snellville, Ga., said his Restaurant diverted more than 3.1 tons of food waste from a local landfill within less than a year of installing the ORCA digester.
“Having this innovative food waste solution helps us do our part to make our footprint smaller and have a positive impact on the generations to come,” he said. “What we do today matters, and we’re embracing this opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ and be a better partner to our community.”
What impact does this have?
Restaurants piloting the ORCA technology are helping Chick-fil-A, Inc. make progress towards one of its corporate social responsibility goals to divert more than 25 million pounds of food waste from landfills between 2020 and 2025.
To learn more about other ways Chick-fil-A diverts food waste from landfills, visit chick-fil-a.com/planet.
How aerobic digesters help reduce food waste in Chick-fil-A restaurants
When people think about innovation at Chick-fil-A® restaurants, efficient drive-thru lanes or unique seasonal menu items might come to mind. But our commitment to pursuing what’s next also applies to how we approach sustainability efforts across the Chick-fil-A system.
As Chick-fil-A, Inc. and Chick-fil-A restaurants work together to reduce food waste, select local Owner-Operators in the U.S. and Canada are leveraging innovative technology like the ORCA™ digester system to help tackle this challenge.
What is an ORCA digester?
Using a natural biological process, the ORCA aerobic food waste digester breaks down food waste into a liquid that is safe for municipal wastewater treatment plants. It uses air, water and microbiology to transform food scraps into an effluent that is further recycled at water treatment facilities.
Why is this important?
For Restaurants where composting resources aren’t as readily available, this presents a viable and sustainable food waste solution. The process creates no solid byproduct, eliminating the need for additional handling, expensive hauling and saving the carbon emissions that would otherwise be generated by garbage trucks.
This food waste recycling solution demonstrates Chick-fil-A, Inc.’s commitment to identifying new ways to help local Restaurant Owner-Operators prioritize environmental stewardship and reduce the footprint of their Restaurants.
What do participating Chick-fil-A Owner-Operators say about this technology?
Tom Balsamides, the local Owner-Operator of Chick-fil-A Scenic Highway in Snellville, Ga., said his Restaurant diverted more than 3.1 tons of food waste from a local landfill within less than a year of installing the ORCA digester.
“Having this innovative food waste solution helps us do our part to make our footprint smaller and have a positive impact on the generations to come,” he said. “What we do today matters, and we’re embracing this opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ and be a better partner to our community.”
What impact does this have?
Restaurants piloting the ORCA technology are helping Chick-fil-A, Inc. make progress towards one of its corporate social responsibility goals to divert more than 25 million pounds of food waste from landfills between 2020 and 2025.
To learn more about other ways Chick-fil-A diverts food waste from landfills, visit chick-fil-a.com/planet.
