Circular Food Innovators Fund

The City of Toronto is introducing the Circular Food Innovators Fund (Fund) to support local small businesses (both for-profit and not-for-profit) in the delivery of projects that will make progress toward eliminating single-use and takeaway items in Toronto and achieving a more circular food system. For the purpose of the Circular Food Innovators Fund, a reuse system is: A business model in which reusable foodservice ware, provided to customers by a business for the delivery or takeaway consumption of food, is collected, cleaned and redistributed back for reuse by the business. Reusable foodservice ware includes plates, bowls, cups, trays, glasses, straws, stirrers, condiment cups and utensils that are made of durable materials to stand up to frequent washing and reuse. A reuse system can be operated by a service provider or can be operated by a business selling food for delivery or takeaway consumption. A reuse system may include not only the reusable foodservice ware itself, but also the infrastructure, such as collection bins and cleaning facilities, and support technology, such as mobile applications to coordinate reverse logistics of reusable foodservice ware or barcode tracking systems for the reusable foodservice ware.