A state law passed in 2013 imposes a recycling mandate on Delaware restaurants—unless they can prove recycling costs more than throwing waste away.
Most Delaware restaurant owners don't realize they're operating under a specific legal mandate about recycling. It's not a suggestion or a best practice—it's a requirement buried in state solid waste law, and it comes with documentation obligations that can affect your business if you're not compliant.
Under Section 1, § 6053(4) of Delaware's Title 7 Code, every commercial business in the state—including restaurants—must do one of two things:
Option 1: Enroll in a comprehensive recycling program. Your business must participate in at least the single-stream recycling program offered by the Delaware Solid Waste Authority. This covers the standard materials the Authority accepts in its program. The compliance deadline was January 1, 2014.
Option 2: Document a cost justification. If your restaurant generates waste streams that aren't accepted in the Authority's single-stream program, you don't automatically have to recycle those materials—but you must conduct and keep records of a cost-benefit analysis. That analysis needs to prove that recycling those specific materials would cost more than disposing of them. You must retain these records and make them available to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) upon request.
The key phrase here is "document and retain." This isn't optional paperwork. If DNREC asks to review your justification and you don't have it, you're out of compliance.
Restaurants generate multiple waste streams: cardboard, food waste, grease, packaging, glass, and metal. Some of these fit neatly into single-stream recycling. Others—like used cooking oil or certain food service packaging—may not. The law doesn't say you must recycle everything at any cost. It says you must either recycle what the Authority accepts, or prove in writing why recycling the rest doesn't make financial sense for your operation.
The compliance deadline of January 1, 2014, has passed, which means this requirement is already in effect. If your restaurant hasn't formally enrolled in the Authority's program or documented cost analyses for non-accepted materials, you may want to address this now rather than wait for an inspection or inquiry.
Start by confirming whether your restaurant is enrolled in the Delaware Solid Waste Authority's single-stream recycling program. If you handle waste streams outside that program—food waste, grease, or specialized packaging—document your cost comparison: the price of recycling versus the price of disposal. Keep those records accessible. If your waste profile changes, update your documentation.
This isn't about environmental virtue signaling. It's about staying compliant with state law and having the paperwork to prove it if questions arise.
For a detailed, restaurant-specific guide to SB287 compliance, contact your local Delaware restaurant association or DNREC's commercial waste program.