SHAPING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN NEW YORK CITY’S FOOD SYSTEM

Think Food is a social enterprise that aims to create a circular economy in the food system of NYC by providing an affordable and convenient waste collection service for small and mid-sized Chinese restaurant owners. The Capstone team identified three barriers for Chinese restaurants to perform the sorting practices that help divert food waste from landfill: 1) knowledge gap and language barriers, 2) lack of economic incentives, and 3) lack of time to set up sorting processes. To tackle these issues, the Capstone team created Think Food to provide waste collection services with a focus on sorting process education and enhancement, including food waste sorting training and recycling equipment setup, food waste hauling and pick-up, and a mobile app with language options in English and Chinese for clients to track the updated policies, impact, and waste operations. Through these interventions, Think Food hopes to build a resilient food ecosystem that involves every Chinese restaurant's participation in the circular economy.