Join the Movement: Become a WasteLess Certified Business.
Empower your business to target, measure, and act against food waste while building a more sustainable future for Utah.
- Join a movement of Utah businesses committed to a waste-free future. The WasteLess Certified program empowers your team with measurable strategies to target, measure, and act against food waste. By optimizing your sourcing and operations, you can transform a significant expense into a tax-deductible investment that saves thousands annually. With 80% of global consumers willing to pay more for eco-friendly products, this certification is an environmental win and a competitive advantage that builds lasting community impact.
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.—a staggering loss of roughly 17.2 million tons valued at over $186.9 billion. 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 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. If food waste were its own country, it would be the third-largest emitter in the world. 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 Your Business Receives
When your business achieves WasteLess Certification, you receive a comprehensive suite of tools to showcase your leadership in sustainability. This includes a window cling for storefront display and 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. You will also gain dedicated support from WasteLess staff to assist with waste reduction strategy and goal setting, ensuring your business stays at the forefront of operational excellence. Furthermore, your brand will be featured on the WasteLess Certified Map and through social media spotlights, connecting you with a growing network of like-minded businesses and consumers who prioritize supporting environmentally responsible organizations. Together, we can ensure that Utah’s food system feeds people, saves money, and protects the planet for future generations.
How it Works
- Fill out the form to tell us more about your business and what current strategies you have to reduce waste.
- Our team will reach out to you for a call to discuss goals, consult on waste reduction strategies, and go over pricing.
- After implementing practices given by our team, you will submit your application. If 10 out of 18 criteria are met, you will receive certification.
- Once certified, you will receive your materials and certification is valid for 2 years!
Ready to becoming a leader in a waste-free Utah? Fill out the form and we will start your certification process.
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—including house-made sauces and dressings—and prioritizes 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!
