Chicago restaurant group is all in on sustainability through zero-waste kitchens
CHICAGO (CBS) -- When making reservations for a Valentine's Day dinner, chances are people are not thinking about what that restaurant is doing to protect the planet.
But sustainability efforts becoming more top of mind in the midst of a changing climate, and they have become a priority at some Chicago restaurants too.
The RPM Restaurants group — a joint venture by Giuliana and Bill Rancic and siblings R.J., Jerrod, and Molly Melman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises — has three restaurants in Chicago, all in River North. When CBS News Chicago visited the kitchen at RPM Seafood, 317 N. Clark St., the staff was working to make a sustainable difference one plate at a time — by creating zero waste.
"It's, you know, how do you utilize every bit of product you have?" said Chef Bob Broskey, who oversees all the restaurants in the RPM group. "We take a lot of time to source things and make sure that we're buying the best. We just want to take care of the environment as much as we possibly can."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that wasted food is responsible for 58% of methane emissions from landfills.
"Any food waste that's going to landfill rots and turns into methane," said Jeff Clark, expert exchange director at the National Restaurant Association.
Restaurants generate between 22 billion to 33 billion pounds of food waste annually, according to the association. The zero-waste initiative is just one effort the RPM Restaurants group is making to reduce its carbon footprint — because what happens in the kitchen is really just the start.
"What can we do to take it out of the landfill?" said RPM Restaurants managing partner Kelly Clancy, who is leading the sustainability efforts.
The answer to that question involves the local compost collection company WasteNot — which prevents food waste from ending up in that landfill.
"That includes meat scraps, bones, solid dairy, baked goods," said WasteNot Founder Liam Donnelly.
WasteNot prides itself in more than its Chicago roots. The company calls itself the nation's only zero-emissions compost service — with all-electric vehicles too.
"Pretty much if it grows, it goes," said Donnelly. "If it was ever once living, we can compost it."
WasteNot with RPM saved thousands and thousands of pounds of food waste just last year.
The wraparound sustainability efforts within RPM got off the ground in 2023, when Chicago was surrounded by smog from the wildfires in Canada.
"It just really clicked in my brain — like we have to do something," said Clancy.
And RPM did.
"Our beverage program is 100% recyclable," Clancy said. "We recycled about 300,000 pounds of glass last year."
With the restaurant industry already hit by a changing climate — and changing temperatures and weather patterns are already impacting some produce and when it is available — RPM is focused on limiting future impact.
It is a hospitality priority from some you probably won't see when you sit down for dinner.
"We have to do something," Clancy said. "We have to be part of making a difference."
The EPA has prepared a website on sustainable food management — with ideas for what individuals, as well as businesses and organizations, can do. The National Restaurant Association also has a sustainability page — with information on food waste reduction, sustainable seafood sourcing, and sustainable takeout and delivery packaging.
Lettuce Entertain You also has a no-waste recipe for the beef butter used at RPM Steak.
