San Francisco Organics Recycling Program

The San Francisco Produce Recycling Program is a collaborative effort between public and private participants to redistribute discarded food. San Francisco Food Bank staff collect food from wholesalers that is at least 50% edible and still in its original packaging. The food is transported to a warehouse where volunteers separate edible food from inedible food. The Food Bank distributes more than 37 tons of edible food per month to service agencies, and the inedible food is used by farmers as animal feed. Any remaining inedible food that is not collected by the Food Bank is collected by two haulers, Sunset Scavenger Company and Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling Company, to be composted. The San Francisco Recycling Program provides assistance in developing, implementing, and expanding programs and partnerships with the food bank, collection companies, farmers, and local colleges.

The goal of this program is to redistribute food waste to food banks, farmers, and compost.

In 1999, the city diverted more than 37,400 tons of commercial organics. This represented one third of all organics generated by the commercial sector, and about 3% of the city's overall commercial waste stream. More than 300 businesses and institutions were included in the program. That year, 3,000 tons of edible food was redistributed and 21,000 tons were diverted through animal feed. Businesses participating in the program pay 25% less for produce collection than garbage collection, reducing their overall disposal costs by an average of 10% and minimizing their waste.