Restaurant Technologies (RTI), a leading provider of automated cooking oil management for commercial kitchens, will unite with environmental leaders across policy, business, hospitality, and civil society at Climate Week NYC 2026 to discuss the role of commercial kitchens in waste reduction and providing solutions to the climate crisis. RTI will join Food Tank’s Solving Food Waste: A Key Solution to the Climate Crisis from 9 AM to 12 PM ET on Monday, September 21, at WNYC-NPR Studios’ The Greene Space in Manhattan.
Presented in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Food Planet Prize, NRDC, Walmart Foundation, CookUnity and Mill, the event will bring together a diverse group of leaders from government, business, hospitality and sustainability sectors to explore how reducing food waste can cut emissions, strengthen food security and build more resilient food systems.
Diana Geseking, Chief Legal Officer and Impact Committee Chair at RTI, will speak on the panel Food Waste Action in Commercial Kitchens and Food Service and share insights on ways businesses can transform food waste from an operational challenge into an opportunity to reduce environmental impact and contribute to the circular economy.
“Climate issues are addressed most effectively when industry, government, and society work together to find solutions,” said Geseking. “Restaurant Technologies is proud to stand alongside UNEP, NRDC, and our fellow co-hosts in advancing practical, scalable solutions to food waste, and to demonstrate how meaningful climate progress can make a big difference in kitchens around the world.”
Restaurant Technologies addresses food waste through the automation of cooking oil delivery, filtration, monitoring and collection of used cooking oil for over 45,000 commercial kitchens nationwide, which includes McDonald’s, Shake Shack, Sheetz, Kroger, and more. In 2025, RTI recycled almost 400 million pounds of used cooking oil (UCO), and converted nearly 100% of its UCO into renewable diesel or biodiesel for vehicles on the road, or into sustainable aviation fuel for aircrafts.
Geseking will join an accomplished group of food system and sustainability leaders participating in Food Tank’s Climate Week NYC event, including: Julie Gehrki, President, Walmart Foundation and Senior Vice President, Philanthropy, Walmart Inc.; María Bengochea, Director of Sustainability, Nutrition & Standards, CookUnity; Veleké Brown, Executive Director, E-RoadMap Corporation (Operation No Food Gap); Robert Jones, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Industry Leadership, and Impact, Culinary Institute of America; Matthew Jozwiak, CEO and Founder, Rethink; Adalberto Maluf, National Secretary for Urban Environment, Water Resources and Environmental Quality, Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change; Danielle Nierenberg, President, Food Tank; U.S. Representative Andrea Salinas, Oregon’s 6th Congressional District; Gwyneth Rampton, Vice President of Sustainability, Compass Group USA and many more.
