Congratulations to Rizzuto’s Oyster Bar & Restaurant for being named our latest Sustainable Westport Superstar. After years of composting at home, restaurant owner Bill Rizzuto took on the challenge of implementing a food scrap program at his business after being introduced to Sustainable Westport. With the help of Curbside Compost, Rizzutos now has four 32-gallon food scrap carts being picked up for composting once a week! 

What have you learned about food scrap recycling that you wish more people would know? 

More than anything, this process has raised our awareness of the volume of organic materials that are going to landfills/incinerators. There are so many things we now compost: oyster, clam, and seafood shells, meat, poultry, and fish trim, vegetable skins, not to mention food leftover on our guests’ plates. It feels great knowing we are contributing our excess food products going back into the earth. 

Any advice you would give to other businesses considering composting? 

I wanted to implement composting into my business for a long time but was held back by the logistics of composting the high volume of food scrap. After being connected to Curbside Compost through Sustainable Westport, I decided it was time to take on the challenge. 

The biggest challenge was working with staff to re-train and break the habits of how we handle food waste. It took time, but our staff remained dedicated to implementing change and are really proud of what we are doing. 

While it is too early to assess whether there is any economic benefit for our business, it is clear that our regular trash dumpster is much less full during Monday morning pickup. In the first three months of composting,  we recovered 2,000 lbs of food scraps, equivalent to 1,220 lbs of CO2 or 1,391 miles of driving.

In addition to implementing a composting program, Rizzutos has also opted to swap all carry-away packaging for biodegradable, recycled paper products. Ultimately, their goal is to ensure all takeout products are 100% recyclable or compostable. 

THANK YOU, Bill Rizzuto and the entire Rizzuto’s Oyster Bar & Restaurant staff, for being a Sustainable Westport Superstar!