When we say climate change, what do you think? We often picture giant chimneys churning out clouds of black smoke. However, the truth is, we’re also affecting the environment in other, less obvious ways, too. Did you know, for example, that food waste is just as harmful as any greenhouse gas?
It’s true. Over nine million tonnes of food is thrown away every year in the UK alone. Even more shockingly, over one third of all the food produced globally goes to waste. These numbers are unfathomable. Then there’s food loss, which is food that’s wasted before it even reaches the supermarket shelves.
This has devastating effects on our environment. Those effects take more shapes than you might imagine: food waste contributes to everything from greenhouse gas emissions and water shortages to deforestation and transport emissions.
The good news is, all hope is not lost. There are steps we can all take to reduce food waste and show our planet some love. We’re here to help out.
Let’s learn more about the food waste crisis and see how together we can promote food waste reduction for a greener tomorrow.
What is Food Waste?
For starters, let’s discuss what we even mean by ‘food waste’. You may have picked up from the introduction that the term’s not as clear-cut as you might think.
That’s because food waste occurs at every stage of the supply chain, from farm to fork. Essentially, food waste is food that’s intended for us to eat but ends up discarded/uneaten. Note: that includes ‘food loss’, which is food that never even makes it to the consumer.
We can divide food waste into two broad categories:
- Avoidable Food Waste: Food that could have been eaten but was mismanaged. When you throw away your leftovers or let your veg go past its ‘best before’, that’s avoidable food waste.
- Unavoidable Food Waste: Some food parts are simply inedible. That includes bones, eggshells, peelings, etc. Throwing that away is basically unavoidable. After all, you can’t eat it!
No one’s pointing the finger here. We’re all responsible to some degree. According to WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), around 70% of UK food waste comes from households. Other contributors include:
- Restaurants
- Supermarkets
- Agriculture
- Food production and manufacturing
At this point, you might be thinking “what’s the problem? Doesn’t food just decompose?” The problem is when food waste goes to landfill. There, it breaks down anaerobically. That produces methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases.
The Environmental Cost of Food Waste
Let’s dive a little deeper. It’s time for some science. We’re going to explore how exactly food waste (including food loss) affects the environment. Stick around, because some of these may surprise you!
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Those banana peels and apple cores sitting in landfill don’t decompose ‘naturally’. That’s because they’re piled up and don’t have access to oxygen. Without oxygen, they produce methane. That’s a big problem.Methane is a greenhouse gas. A potent one, at that. In fact, it’s 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat. That’s why, in the UK in 2021/22, food waste contributed more than 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
- Water Waste: Did you know it takes around 1,000 litres of water to produce just one litre of milk? In fact, every item of food or drink we consume takes a lot of land and resources to produce. When we throw food away, we also waste those resources. Add that to the pre-existing ecological strains and we have a huge issue.
- Deforestation: It’s no secret that huge swathes of forest are cut down to make space for food production every year. Especially in places like the Amazon. In fact, Brazil has ‘lost’ over 10% of its forests since 2000.When the food that space was ‘needed’ for is thrown away, never eaten, it’s fair to say that the deforestation (not to mention the habitat loss and greenhouse gas emissions that come from it) was unnecessary to begin with.
- Transport Emissions: Then, of course, there’s transport. Just imagine how long it takes an avocado to go from Mexico to your fridge. Then, imagine how many fridges it’s sat in, and how many packaging plants it’s gone through. Every stage of the food production supply chain contributes irreversibly to greenhouse gas emissions.
In short: the environmental effects of food waste reach far and wide. That’s why we need to do everything in our power to reduce food waste for good.
What Individuals and Businesses Can Do to Reduce Food Waste
In the face of such hurdles, it can be easy to feel helpless. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Remember that statistic from earlier, the one that said 70% of UK food waste comes from households? Well, that means the power is in our hands.
There’s good news we can all be cheered by: there are many small things individuals and businesses alike can do to reduce food waste.
Here are a few ideas, first for individuals:
- Meal Planning: Start by only buying the food you need and carefully figuring out portion sizes.
- Proper Food Storage: Pop leftovers in the fridge promptly and freeze foods before they spoil.
- Composting: Remember what unavoidable food waste is? Well, you can put that waste in your home composter to give it a second lease of life.
- Tech: Ever heard of apps like OLIO and Too Good To Go? They’re all the rage in UK towns and cities. Essentially, they’re ways to get reduced (sometimes even free) food. Try them out!
Businesses face larger-scale food waste. However, there are still ways around it. Try these approaches:
- Food Waste Audits: These will help you spot where and when food waste is occurring. Then, you’ll be better able to address it.
- Staff Training: Make sure your staff are kept in the loop. It’s easy to assume everyone knows what they’re doing. However, we recommend taking the time to fill everyone in on the basics and clearly signpost different bin types.
- Donating: Why not donate leftover food to a charity like FareShare? Reduce food waste, donate to charity: everybody wins.
- Invest in the Right Bins: It sounds simple, but people often forget. A professional waste management service like Waste Direct can supply you with the right food waste bins so you’re never on the wrong side of regulations. Make preventing food waste easier for yourself!
Policy and Regulatory Frameworks in the UK
The government isn’t sitting on its hands, either. They’re keen to develop a cleaner, more circular economy. With that aim, they released the ‘Resources and Waste Strategy for England’ document in 2018. This outlines a vision to double resource productivity and eliminate avoidable waste by 2050.
Essentially, this is part of a broader commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the same year. Beside that objective lies other regulations, too. For example, in Scotland, food businesses producing over 5kg of food waste per week are legally required to segregate it for separate collection. England has followed suit. Recent regulations mandate businesses to separate recyclable materials, including food waste, from general waste.
The government isn’t alone here. WRAP’s Courtauld Commitment 2030 supports such initiatives. This is an agreement between food and drink businesses to reduce food waste by 50% per capita by 2030 and half greenhouse gas emissions from the food industry. The commitment is voluntary, but it represents great change!
The good news is that food preservation ideas are becoming law. As they do, businesses need to make sure they’re ready to change their practices. Preventing food waste will no longer be an ideal; it’ll be a legal obligation.
The Future of Food Waste Solutions
We hope, as do many other prominent businesses, that innovation will pave the way for easier food waste reduction. There’s reason to hope, too: tech companies all around the world, including right here in the UK, are working hard on incredible food waste technology as we speak. They’re heading in exciting directions.
One promising solution is anaerobic digestion. Don’t worry about the fancy name; it’s where food waste is broken down in oxygen-free tanks to produce biogas for energy and nutrient-rich digestate for farming. This turns waste into a valuable resource.
Another, of course, is AI. AI is changing everything. Often for the better. For example, AI-driven inventory systems in supermarkets and restaurants can predict demand more accurately. This reduces over-ordering and unnecessary spoilage.
More broadly, the future lies in adopting circular economy principles. More and more companies are already doing this: seeing waste as a resource, not something to be thrown out and forgotten. We all have a role to play in encouraging forward-thinking companies to succeed!
Final Thoughts
Our purpose was to expose you to some of the hard truths behind UK food waste. However, we hope we haven’t been too ‘doom and gloom’. We’ve also shown you why we here at Waste Direct are excited about some of the positive notes being struck across business and government.
After all, the solution to this problem doesn’t lay in the hands of any one person. It’s down to all of us. Mini-solutions exist at every level, from the household to the mega-business.
One of the easiest ways for your business to join the green revolution is to partner with a professional, eco-conscious waste management company like Waste Direct. We partner with over 300 waste companies, including green food waste facilities, to divert your commercial waste away from landfill and towards a better future.
Let’s work together: contact the experts today!
