Taco Time NW, a northwest-based family-owned Mexican quick-service restaurant, was awarded the 2013 Leadership In Organics Recovery Award from the Washington Organics Recycling Council.

The award goes to a company or individual who has championed an Organics Recovery program that has targeted a new part of the waste stream or has increased participation.

As part of its 50th anniversary initiatives in 2012, Taco Time NW implemented a new compostable packaging program.  This program greatly reduces the need for guests to separate out compostable items and minimizes waste.

Restaurant guests are able to dispose of the vast majority of their packaging in one bin, needing only to separate out a few non-compostable items. The simplified system is marked with signs and pictures for guests to easily identify which items can be composted.

At 59 of its restaurants — including Port Orchard —  compost is hauled to a commercial compost facility.

“We are honored to be recognized by the Washington Organics Recycling Council and are proud to be receiving the 2013 Leadership Award,” said Robby Tonkin, president for Taco Time NW. “Recycling and composting are initiatives that we fundamentally believe in and we are proud that we can do our part to be good stewards of the environment and allow our guests to do the same when they visit our restaurants.”