With the UK’s national rollout of separate food waste collections on the horizon, Phillip Simpson, commercial director at ReFood, discusses why embracing sustainable waste management should be a priority for food and beverage businesses nationwide.
According to insight from WRAP, the hospitality and food service sectors are collectively responsible for generating more than a million tonnes of food waste every year – a staggering 71% of which is said to be not only perfectly edible but also completely avoidable.
Wasting food is a costly business. After all, alongside experiencing high overheads resulting from purchasing produce that will inevitably be thrown away, businesses are at the mercy of soaring disposal costs.
However, perhaps even more concerning are the resulting environmental consequences. After all, rotting food waste releases greenhouse gas emissions considered 21 times more damaging to the ozone layer than carbon dioxide. If food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third highest polluter after China and the USA.
Thankfully, there are several options available for businesses to better manage their food waste – this is precisely where the food waste hierarchy comes into play.
The food waste hierarchy
The food waste hierarchy is an academic model that details potential avenues for both mitigating and disposing of food waste, listing these options from most to least preferable.
The guidance is structured so that the more favoured options eliminate waste entirely, or at least redistribute it, and, where this isn’t possible, offer options for keeping food within the value chain.
But which parts are the most important for F&B businesses to consider and prioritise? Well, let’s explore each section of the hierarchy:
Prevention
It almost goes without saying, but the number one priority for any business operating within the food supply chain should be to reduce waste at source.
Improving stock control and avoiding over-purchase is now easier than ever, with several tools (including AI) available for managers looking to streamline purchasing.
Other options like simplifying menu choices, forgoing garnishes and slimming down portion sizes can have a significant commercial impact without damaging the dining experience.
If food waste can’t be avoided, the hierarchy suggests that it should be redistributed. Charities and food banks are always looking for partnerships to enable food to reach those who need it most and, due to the soaring cost of living crisis, demand from consumers is growing. Too Good To Go, for example, remains one of the UK’s most downloaded apps.
Next, food waste unsuitable for human consumption can be repurposed as animal feed. Several businesses offer this service. However, with strict guidelines surrounding which foods can and can’t be used as animal feed, it’s far from a catch-all solution.
Recycling
While prevention should always be the first port of call, there will always be unavoidable waste from day-to-day operations.
The hierarchy suggests that if waste cannot be redistributed, reused or is otherwise unsuitable for human or animal consumption (such as bones, shells, gristle and spoiled produce), it should be recycled.
Delivered on an industrial scale, food waste recycling harnesses the anaerobic digestion (AD) process to capture methane released during the natural degradation of food.
This gas can either be combusted to generate renewable electricity, or upgraded and injected directly into the national gas grid. Nothing goes to waste during the process – even the resulting digestate can be used as a sustainable liquid biofertiliser by local farmers.
While prevention should always be the first port of call, there will always be unavoidable waste from day-to-day operations.
Food waste recycling can be quickly and easily integrated into existing waste management practices as most services collect all types of food, including preparation waste, scraps and even packaged products.
Most importantly, with no costly landfill tax to pay, businesses can expect to save around 50% on waste management costs.
Composting is another option to recycle food waste, but there’s a huge problem here. While AD captures methane and uses it to generate energy, composting releases methane into the atmosphere and instead only considers the “composted” material of value.
As a result, the process is responsible for dangerous greenhouse gases – much like landfill – despite the resulting output being beneficial as a crop growth aid.
Recovery and disposal
Food waste that can’t be recycled (such as contaminated material) still has a place in the hierarchy.
While poor from an environmental performance, incineration prevents contamination from leaking back into the food supply chain. Moreover, the energy generated can be recovered and used to offset reliance on fossil fuels.
Most experts suggest that any levels lower than incineration (with energy recovery) should be avoided at all costs – i.e. burning, landfill or maceration into the sewage system.
However, historically, the most common waste management techniques for food and beverage businesses have been precisely these.
The food waste hierarchy is by no means law but instead offers best practice guidance for the most effective – and sustainable – solutions for managing food waste. Rather than focusing on dated disposal techniques, the supply chain should aim to prevent waste.
If we can’t prevent it, we should recycle it. If we can’t recycle it, we should recover it. Disposal should always be the very last resort – and businesses must change their processes to reflect this.
The benefits of following the food waste hierarchy
With disposal costs rocketing and food and beverage businesses coming under ever greater pressure to improve their sustainability credentials, following the food waste hierarchy makes both financial and environmental sense.
After all, preventing waste from arising in the first place reduces reliance on waste management services, while reducing landfill eliminates the release of harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Recycling food waste, on the other hand, sees valuable resources turned into renewable energy; an important contributor to decarbonising the energy system.
In addition, by reducing reliance on landfill disposal, businesses can save around 50% on their waste costs.
The food and beverage sector is perfectly positioned to harness the opportunities presented by the food waste hierarchy as guidance to proactively establish recycling best practice.
It takes a simple mindset shift, but one that can deliver from both a sustainability and economic perspective.
