Original Air Date: March 11, 2026 1:00pm EST

Despite the many benefits of reducing food waste, commercial and institutional food establishments often face challenges adopting prevention and diversion practices. From systemic barriers like an absence of organics collection service to a lack of kitchen storage space, the logistics of keeping food out of the landfill can be significant for individual businesses.

This free webinar will feature separate case studies of municipal and NGO-led initiatives working to identify and overcome these barriers. The presentations will describe how each program engages stakeholders, recruits participating businesses and helps them to adopt up and downstream reduction practices.

Moderated by:

Alec Cooley, Senior Advisor @ Busch Systems

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Speaker Panel

MAGGIE BAIN

Project Manager, ICI Food Waste Diversion @ Circular Innovation Council

AMBER BARBELLA

Founder @ Diversion Designers

LESLY BAESENS

Food Resiliency & Waste Program Administrator @ Denver Department of Public Health & Environment

ALEC COOLEY, MODERATOR

Senior Advisor @ Busch Systems

Downloads and Resources

CLICK HERE to view/download a PDF version of the presentation slides from all presenters used in the live webinar.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Circular Innovation Council.
CLICK HERE to view CIC’s Commercial Food Waste Diversion Program Homepage.
CLICK HERE to watch a CIC YouTube video explaining their pilot model for developing programs.
CLICK HERE to read a 2025 report investigating Canada’s organics diversion policy landscape for commercial and institutional settings.
CLICK HERE to view CIC interim report from Guelph & Wellington pilot program.

CLICK HERE to visit the Denver Restaurant Food Waste Challenge website.
CLICK HERE to learn about the City of Denver’s compost ordinance.
CLICK HERE to view a 2024 summary report with stakeholder engagement and initial findings that led to the Denver Food Waste Challenge strategy.
CLICK HERE to learn about Denver’s consultant partner, Diversion Designers.
CLICK HERE to learn about the Drexel Food Lab.
CLICK HERE to learn about the behavior consultants that advised Denver’s program, Action Research.

CLICK HERE to view Waste Reduction in Restaurants & To-Go Food Service.
CLICK HERE to view Organics Collection from Indoor Settings.
CLICK HERE to view Into the Green Bin: Collecting Food Waste from Institutional & Office Settings.

CLICK HERE for CET – Center for EcoTechnology Wasted Food Solutions for Businesses.
CLICK HERE for Smart Kitchens San Diego.
CLICK HERE for Philadelphia Food Matters Challenge.
CLICK HERE for Cal Recycle Edible Food Recovery Grant Program.

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