Mindful Metropolis July 2011 : Page 28
one on one greening an Industry Chicago entrepreneur, Dan Rosenthal, talks about greening Chicago’s restaurants and his newest composting venture inTervieW By Brian BienKoWsKi Dan Rosenthal W ith over 6,000 restaurants, din-ing opportunities in Chicago are abundant. But with this fl ourish-ing culinary scene comes high product con-sumption and waste. Dan Rosenthal, a restaurateur himself, has worked tirelessly to reduce the environ-mental impact from his own and other like-minded Chicago area restaurants. Rosenthal, president of Th e Rosenthal Group (owners of eight restaurants in the city), co-founded the Green Chicago Res-taurant Co-op in 2007 to bolster sustain-able purchasing practices in area restaurants “ and services to Chicago restaurants at mar-ket prices that restaurants could aff ord. Th e pricing structure was so high that it was im-possible for restaurants to buy products and make it work economically, so we wanted buying power to bring prices down. We’ve increased demand—right now we have over 300 restaurants and 150 affi liated busi-nesses—and, as a result, products have got-ten better. Over the last four years they’ve (sustainable products) become a lot more prevalent in the marketplace and, with more competition, the pricing and supplies have gotten a lot better. Let’s shift gears to the compost proj-ect. What drives the need for a food and landscape waste composting facility in Chicago, and what are you trying to accomplish? Everything that was once alive can be composted. in the restaurant industry, up to 70 percent of all waste can be composted.” The guaranteed green certifi cation al-lows diners to support restaurants with high levels of environmental sustainabil-ity. What criteria do they have to meet and is there an ongoing surveillance to make sure they’re still complying? and businesses. Th e co-op’s Guaranteed Green certifi cation program allows din-ers to identify and support restaurants who have achieved rigid environmental standards. His latest venture, Chicago Composts, LLC, is an eff ort to collect food and landscape waste and convert it to high-end compost for soil fertilization. We caught up with the busy entrepre-neur at his downtown offi ce to discuss the latest ways he is changing Chicago’s restaurant industry, his approach to jug-gling multiple projects and how a dead turtle from Florida opened his eyes to environmental sustainability. Why did you start the green Chi-cago restaurant Co-op and what need did you see it fulfi lling in the Chicago restaurant landscape? We started the Green Chicago Restau-rant Co-op to bring sustainable products Every year, in order to remain a certifi ed Guaranteed Green restaurant, the restaurant that’s been certifi ed has to show continual improvement, adding to their sustainability profi le, in order to be a Guaranteed Green restaurant. And all of that is monitored through independent third party verifi cation agencies, either the Green Restaurant As-sociation or Green Seal—both are national certifi cation organizations. Th eir purpose is to ensure that restaurants who are trying to be more sustainable are doing what they claim—there’s no green washing and every-thing’s transparent. Th e public can rely on those labels and certifi cations to be sure that they are dining in a sustainable restaurant. Waste streams are separated into three com-ponents—the recyclable portion, the com-postable portion, and the landfi ll portion. Unfortunately in the city of Chicago, every-thing is going to the landfi ll now because there’s no infrastructure in place to separate and haul it to a location that can success-fully compost organic material. Everything that was once alive can be composted. In the restaurant industry, up to 70 percent of all waste can be composted. So two and a half years ago, I founded the Chicago Composts company to bring large scale commercial composting to the city. We have a 40-acre site on the south side where we hope to open the United States’ largest food scraps composting facility. We’d like to have that facility operational by 2012’s fourth quarter or 2013 and be able to eff ectively compost over 160,000 tons of food scraps per year, generating high-quality, organic humus that can be mixed with other ground cover to create great bedding for crops, fl owers and plants. It’s a great opportunity to return to the soil all of the nutrients that would now be going to the landfi ll. What are some of the hurdles in get-ting the project off the ground? Th e city’s been tremendously cooperative. Mayor Daley wanted it; I’m sure Mayor Em-manuel is on board with the project. It’s just a question of going through a very rigid and important regulatory structure in order to ensure that all of the safety measures are in place to prevent leachate (a polluting liquid produced during composting), mold and odor issues. We need to ensure materials are handled properly so as to not be a nuisance 28 july 2011
One On One: Greening An Industry
Brian Bienkowski
greening an Industry<br /> <br /> Chicago entrepreneur, Dan Rosenthal, talks about greening Chicago’s restaurants and his newest composting venture<br /> <br /> With over 6,000 restaurants, dining opportunities in Chicago are abundant. But with this flourishing culinary scene comes high product consumption and waste.<br /> <br /> Dan Rosenthal, a restaurateur himself, has worked tirelessly to reduce the environmental impact from his own and othelike minded Chicago area restaurants.<br /> <br /> Rosenthal, president of The RosenthalGroup (owners of eight restaurants in the city), co-founded the Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op in 2007 to bolster sustainable purchasing practices in area restaurantsand businesses. The co-op’s Guaranteed Green certification program allows diners to identify and support restaurants who have achieved rigid environmental standards. His latest venture, Chicago Composts,LLC,is an eff ort to collect food and landscape waste and convert it to high-end compost for soil fertilization.We caught up with the busy entrepreneur at his downtown office to discuss the latest ways he is changing Chicago’s restaurant industry, his approach to juggling multiple projects and how a dead turtle from Florida opened his eyes to environmental sustainability.Why did you start the green Chicago restaurant Co-op and what need did you see it fulfilling in the Chicago restaurant landscape?We started the Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op to bring sustainable products And services to Chicago restaurants at market prices that restaurants could afford. The pricing structure was so high that it was impossible for restaurants to buy products and make it work economically, so we wanted buying power to bring prices down. We’ve increased demand—right now we have over 300 restaurants and 150 affiliated businesses— and, as a result, products have gotten better. Over the last four years they’ve (sustainable products) become a lot more prevalent in the marketplace and, with more competition, the pricing and supplies have gotten a lot better.<br /> <br /> The guaranteed green certification allows diners to support restaurants with high levels of environmental sustainability.What criteria do they have to meet and is there an ongoing surveillance to make sure they’re still complying?<br /> <br /> Every year, in order to remain a certified Guaranteed Green restaurant, the restaurant that’s been certified has to show continual improvement, adding to their sustainability profile, in order to be a Guaranteed Green restaurant. And all of that is monitored through independent third partyverification agencies, either the Green Restaurant Association or Green Seal—both are national certification organizations. Their purpose is to ensure that restaurants who are trying to be more sustainable are doing what they claim—there’s no green washing and everything’s transparent. Th e public can rely on those labels and certifications to be sure that they are dining in a sustainable restaurant.<br /> <br /> Let’s shift gears to the compost project.What drives the need for a food and landscape waste composting facility in Chicago, and what are you trying to accomplish?<br /> <br /> Waste streams are separated into three components— the recyclable portion, the compostable portion, and the landfill portion.Unfortunately in the city of Chicago, everything is going to the landfill now because there’s no infrastructure in place to separate and haul it to a location that can successfully compost organic material. Everything that was once alive can be composted. In the restaurant industry, up to 70 percent of all waste can be composted. So two and a half years ago, I founded the <br /> <br /> Chicago Composts company to bring large scale commercial composting to the city. We have a 40-acre site on the south side where we hope to open the United States’ largest food scraps composting facility. We’d like to have that facility operational by 2012’s fourth quarter or 2013 and be able to effectively compost over 160,000 tons of food scraps per year, generating high-quality, organic humus that can be mixed with other ground cover to create great bedding for crops, flowers and plants. It’s a great opportunity to return to the soil all of the nutrients that would now be going to the landfill.<br /> <br /> What are some of the hurdles in Getting the project off the ground?<br /> <br /> The city’s been tremendously cooperative.Mayor Daley wanted it; I’m sure Mayor Emmanuel is on board with the project. It’s just a question of going through a very rigid and important regulatory structure in order to ensure that all of the safety measures are in place to prevent leachate (a polluting liquid produced during composting), mold and odor issues. We need to ensure materials are handled properly so as to not be a nuisance In the community, so it’s important that we go through this regulatory process at the local and state level. Th e IEPA (Illinois Environmental Protection Agency) has oversight on this project and their restrictions and regulations are very rigid, and they should be in order to make sure these kinds of facilities do what they are planned to do and not create problems for the environment that they’re trying to benefit.<br /> <br /> Chicago Composts will use renowned technology that is currently used in other cities throughout the world.How does it work?<br /> <br /> The material is brought to the site from the hauler. It’s screened, ground and then distributed and mixed to get the right carbon/ nitrogen mix for microorganisms to break down the material. Once that mix has been created, it’s spread in long rows on a concrete pad that has a trench in it and is covered by this GORE-TEX (same as the outerwear company) material. A fan is connected to the GORE-TEX with a tube which creates the necessary aeration. The liquid drains down into this trench where it’s recycled, you stick an oxygen probe into it (the material) and you let it sit for six weeks. And then you uncover this GORE-TEX, turning it (the material), one time, and then you let it sit open. No odors escape and all the leachate is captured and recycled. By being covered during breakdown, you don’t have a situation where rodents can get at it.<br /> <br /> How about job creation? Is this skilled labor or is this something where you could bring jobs to the neighborhood?<br /> <br /> The actual plant itself needs 12-15 people to operate it, so it’s not like we’re bringing in hundreds of jobs like Ford Motor Company would be, but the trickle down effect is this opening up of a new waste stream. We’ll have more haulers involved and more trucks involved. On the back end, you have barge companies and haulers hauling away the compost, and baggersthat take the compost and bag it so they can sell it. So there’s no question that it’s not a job neutral situation; it’s a job creator for the city.<br /> <br /> So there’s obviously plenty of suppliers for this food and landscape waste—but selling thousands of tons of compost a year will require some large-scale customers. Is there any benefi t to the suppliers giving you this material and have you seen interest from large-scale buyers who are interested in purchasing the compost?<br /> <br /> On the front end, the supply of raw material is practically endless. Large suppliers are chomping at the bit to sort and separate this product and make it available to us, whether it’s Northwestern University, Museum Campus or Cook County Jail. On the back end, the DNR and Department of Transportation could use it for road beds—road landscaping is huge. Getting it back to farmers is great, that’s why we’re right on the barge canal and will be able to ship this stuff right to the heartland of the state. Th e Chicago Park District, botanic garden … all of these facilities have expressed interest in using this end product, not to mention landscapers at the commercial level and home landscapers. Th eresdefinitely a market both on the front and back end.<br /> <br /> Between the restaurants, the co-op and the compost project, how do you find the time to keep up?<br /> <br /> Somebody once said surround yourself with great people. If I can help in a small way by opening a door here and there to create the right environment for someone to perform … that’s what I see my job as. So the secret to my Success, if I’ve had any, is that I’ve surrounded myself with good people. And I think anyone who’s trying to do anything on a large scale would say that’s the key if you want to be able to do more than what a person does in a normal day. Philosophically, a lot of that has to do with being willing to let go. You’ve heard of the concept of command and control? I like to tell people that I’m in command but never in control.<br /> <br /> Have you always been so concerned with sustainability and being “green”?<br /> <br /> No … I had my moment five years ago. I was on a beach in Florida and saw a loggerhead turtle that had drowned because it swallowed a plastic bag. I go through 400,000 to 500,000 plastic bags a year. Th e thing that struck me was not only that I had vicariously participated in killing one animal, which I’m not proud of, but my mother for a good portion of her life has been trying to preserve loggerhead turtles in Florida, so it all came full circle for me. By helping to destroy the environment, I was working at cross purposes with my mother, which is not a good idea. You’re not supposed to work against your mother. So that’s how I got started in my research on how to try and stop this devastation of the environment.<br /> <br /> Brian Bienkowskiis a master’s student studying environmental journalism at Michigan State University, and an editorial intern at Mindful Metropolis.
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