New City Incentives for Restaurant Reuse and Composting

Published on March 09, 2026

Denver's Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency (CASR) is offering new incentives and technical assistance to help food service businesses reduce waste, save money, and develop strategies to comply with Denver's Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance.

The program supports Denver food service providers through two tracks:

1. Reuse Denver - Businesses can receive up to $1,000 in reusable service ware for dine-in operations, helping them transition away from disposable items.
2. Food Waste Composting - Businesses can receive up to $3,600 worth of compost collection services for up to one year to keep food scraps out of landfills

Both tracks include a restaurant advisor from Diversion Designers, a city-approved partner, who will walk businesses through each step of integrating reusables and composting into daily operations.

"With a small investment from the city, we can team up with local businesses to show that sustainability is good for their bottom line. By cutting waste and lowering costs, businesses can respond to customer demand," said Elizabeth Babcock, Executive Director of Denver's Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency. "When businesses save money and reduce waste, our whole city wins, environmentally and economically."

Program Impact to Date

In 2024, this program helped 27 small businesses transition to reusable service ware. Together, these businesses:

• Prevented about 957,000 disposable items from being thrown away each year.
• Saved $97,304 annually by avoiding the purchase of disposable products.

On average, each business:

• Used 35,000 fewer disposable items per year.
• Saved $3,600 annually from avoided purchases of disposables

Building a Circular Economy in Denver

This program is part of CASR's broader goal to reduce consumption, waste, and pollution by creating a more circular economy-one that prioritizes sharing, repairing, recycling, and reusing materials.

The program also supports businesses in meeting the requirements of Denver's Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance. Passed by voters as "Waste No More" in 2022, Denver's Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance was designed to expand access to recycling and composting while reducing landfill waste. It requires restaurants and other food businesses to provide recycling and composting services, conserving resources by keeping food scraps and recyclables out of the landfill. The city is committed to helping covered entities make the transition smoothly and successfully. Denverites can learn more at https://www.DenverGov.org/UniversalRecycling.

Learn More & Apply

To participate or explore program details, visit: https://www.denvergov.org/reusedenver

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