Inspired by Zero Waste Zone’s (ZWZ) success, the National Restaurant Association announced a national collaboration with Elemental Impact and ZWZ. The collaboration will identify new best practices, create resources and measure the impact of perishable organics waste management and recycling efforts.
“Atlanta’s Zero Waste Zone program has been greatly successful, and we are now looking to expand that success to communities nationwide,†said Scott DeFife, executive vice president for policy and government affairs, the National Restaurant Association. “Sustainability is imperative to our industry, other business communities and the general public. Working with Elemental Impact, we are bringing industry stakeholders together to enable our members to establish – and succeed in reaching – waste diversion and resource recovery goals.â€
The National Restaurant Association’s Conserve initiative, which is in part funded by the Turner Foundation, is designed to inspire actions that improve a company’s bottom line, and are good for people and the planet.
The announcement was made during the ZWZ’s second anniversary. ZWZ, a division of Elemental Impact was launched initially to establish a zone in Atlanta’s downtown convention district where businesses pledged to implement zero waste initiatives.  Elemental Impact is headed by Holly Elmore.
During the celebration, ZWZ Chair Laura Turner Seydel gave an overview of the of the past two years and George McKerrow of Ted’s Montana Grill announced the Turner Building is the first multi-use building in Atlanta to begin implementing organics collection throughout the entire facility.
Additionally, Waste Management, a leading provider of comprehensive waste management and recycling services in North America, announced that the company will begin exploring the initiation of a post-consumer organics materials solution within Metro Atlanta. The ZWZ provided a framework for Atlanta to become a key location for the effort.
