Join the Movement: Become a WasteLess Certified Business.
Get Recognized for Your Commitment to Reducing Food Waste.
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WasteLess Certified recognizes businesses that are taking meaningful steps to reduce food waste and adopt sustainable food practices. From restaurants and grocery stores to hotels, caterers, and food service businesses, every organization has an opportunity to make a difference. Whether you're preventing waste through smarter purchasing, donating surplus food, improving food storage, or composting unavoidable scraps, your efforts deserve to be celebrated. Through WasteLess Certified, we recognize businesses that are helping build a more sustainable food system and inspire others to do the same. Ready to becoming a leader in a waste-free Utah? Apply for the WasteLess Certified Award by filling out the form below.
Why Businesses Should Support a Waste-Free Utah
Food waste is a major contributor to climate change, representing a significant loss of the land, water, labor, and resources used to produce what we eat. Consumer-facing businesses, including restaurants, grocers, and food service operations, are responsible for 24.3% of all food wasted in the U.S. By becoming WasteLess Certified, your business joins a vital social movement to build a more sustainable food system. Food waste data from ReFed, shows that 80% of surplus food consists of perishables like fresh produce, meats, and dairy—items that are essential to the 1 in 7 Americans facing food insecurity but can be saved through proper storage, smart ordering, and food rescue practices. Beyond the social impact, the environmental stakes are high: when food is buried in a landfill, it decomposes without oxygen and produces methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. Certification empowers you to turn these statistics into action, protecting the planet while optimizing your bottom line through measurable prevention and community-focused diversion.
What WasteLess Certified Recognizes
Examples of sustainable food practices include:
- Preventing food waste through inventory management, purchasing, and portion planning.
- Properly storing and handling food to extend freshness and prevent spoilage.
- Offering different portion sizes on menus.
- Repurposing surplus ingredients and finding creative uses for excess food.
- Donating safe, edible surplus food to local food banks and community organizations.
- Composting unavoidable food scraps or food unsafe for human consumption.
- Training staff on food waste prevention and sustainable practices.
- Educating customers and encouraging waste-conscious habits.
What Your Business Receives
When your business is awarded WasteLess Certification, you receive:
- A window cling for storefront display.
- A digital badge for your website and social media to signal your commitment to ethical, climate-conscious operations.
- To engage your customers directly, we provide in-store educational signage and table-top materials that highlight your impact.
- Your logo will be featured on the WasteLess Certified website and through social media spotlights, connecting you with a growing network of like-minded businesses and consumers who prioritize supporting environmentally responsible organizations.
How it Works
- Fill out the form to tell us more about your business and what current strategies you have to reduce waste.
- Pay the $50 application fee supporting the growth of WasteLess Certified.
- A member of the WasteLess team will review your application and you will be contacted within 3-5 business days.
- Once awarded, you will receive your materials to display at your establishment!
WasteLess Certified Business Spotlight:
Beer Bar is a locally owned bar and eatery committed to a more sustainable food system for Utah by reducing food waste. Their kitchen prepares food from scratch like their house-made sauces and dressings prioritizing locally sourced ingredients whenever possible. As a WasteLess Certified business, Beer Bar actively donates surplus food, follows the Food Recovery Hierarchy (prevent → donate → compost), and creatively repurposes extra ingredients into new sauces and menu items. Most notably, they make bread pudding with excess bread products leftover from sandwich and hotdogs! They also sort recyclables, properly store food to reduce spoilage, and encourage customers to take home leftovers. Through staff training in the WasteLess Way course and visible educational materials for guests, Beer Bar demonstrates how restaurants can reduce waste while serving great food and supporting a more sustainable local food system!
