The hospitality and food service sector is responsible for over 10% of the UK’s food waste
That amounts to over a million tonnes of food waste every year and WRAP estimates that more 75% of that total is avoidable and could have been eaten. While the major food retailers have reduced their share of UK food waste to just 2%, food waste reduction remains one of the most challenging areas for tourism businesses providing hospitality and food services.
WRAP, the UK-based charity devoted to the reduction of waste, estimates that food is responsible for around 30% of global carbon emissions. Habitats destroyed to make way for agricultural production also contribute to between 60%-80% biodiversity loss. It’s also a social disaster, with over half a billion people living in food poverty while the rest of the world throws away around one third of the food that is produced. This is why food waste occupies such an important place in the UN’s sustainable Development Goals: (which aim to halve food waste by 2030) and why we place such a strong emphasis on food waste reduction in our award criteria.
Despite these shocking figures, levels of food waste are proving extremely stubborn to shift, in spite of the fact that, when food waste is discarded, the costs are financial as well as environmental. Wrap estimates that food waste currently costs the UK Hospitality and Food Service sector £3.2 billion every year. Hardly surprising when you factor in the costs of growing, harvesting, processing, transporting, storing and cooking that food.
Recognising the commercial and reputational benefits of taking action, many of you are already making significant progress in reducing the volume and impacts of your food waste. It is not a simple process, so we felt it would be worthwhile signposting some of the support available to help you in your journey to zero food waste. That may sound like pie in the sky, but even unavoidable food waste need not go to waste, and we’ll look at the food waste recovery options available to you moving forward.
Regulations are helping drive progress
Governments around the world are deeply aware of the environmental impacts of food waste and are using legislation to encourage businesses to change their behaviours. Currently only 12% of all UK food waste is segregated and processed. To drive that figure up, regulations in Scotland and Wales have already made the segregation of food waste mandatory for food businesses and similar regulations are now in place in both France and Ireland The UK Government is now following suit with new regulations coming into force in England requiring businesses to have arranged separate storage and collection of food waste by 31st March 2025. It’s a development that should be welcomed. Segregating food waste is a key step in reducing it – enabling you to monitor what is being thrown away and develop strategies to avoid it. Food is also, generally, the heaviest element in a residual waste bin so separating it from general waste will, ultimately, reduce disposal costs.
Unavoidable food waste is still a valuable resource
By its very nature, food is high in energy. If it goes to landfill, it breaks down, emitting methane – a greenhouse gas that the UN estimates contributes over 80 times more to global warming than CO2. for the first 20 years. WRAP has estimated that, if food waste were a country, it would be the third biggest greenhouse gas emitter after the US and China!
If, however, that food waste is composted, the energy it contains can be returned to the soil to grow more food. Alternatively, food waste can be processed using anaerobic digestion (AD) which captures the methane to make renewable fuels, with the remainder being used as an organic fertiliser. The greenest option available to you will depend on the infrastructure closest to you. Transporting food waste comes with its own carbon footprint so, if you can safely compost food waste on site, that is often the greenest option. A discussion with your local waste management companies should help you ascertain the best environmental choice for your business’ unavoidable food waste, and we can provide additional guidance if you need further clarification.
Understanding your food waste takes real intelligence
Once you have segregated your food waste, you are in a better position to analyse it and work out why it is arising. This may seem a laborious task, but it will pay financial and environmental dividends and help you develop reduction strategies.
The free resources provided by WRAP which are signposted below are invaluable in undertaking a compositional analysis of your food waste and come highly recommended by our advisers. They will help you identify how much of your food waste is unavoidable and what proportion you can take action to reduce, such as plate waste or waste resulting from spoilage. It will also flag any opportunities there may be to donate food to benefit the 7.2 million people the Government estimate are experiencing food poverty in the UK . The resources will help you record the food waste arising so you can monitor your progress and report these to inform your environmental certification.
There are various ways of analysing the composition of your food waste and the guidance will take you through the process. It can seem laborious, but you need to go through the process to get robust data for environmental reporting and to measure the effectiveness of your reduction initiatives accurately.
Or even artificial intelligence
There are also some high-tech solutions, that deploy cameras and AI to analyse what is going into your food waste bins. They tend to be quite expensive but if you operate a very large kitchen, it may make financial sense. WRAP cites a survey of 1,000 companies which revealed that every £1 invested in food waste reduction measures delivers a return of £14. Some of our larger hotel clients have installed high-tech solutions that can automatically identify food types and use machine learning to advise on waste mitigation measures such as decreasing portion sizes or improved ordering frequencies and improved storage strategies.
Free support is on hand
There is no shortage of free-to-access support materials and resources for businesses wanting to develop strategies cut their food waste. We can provide you with a spreadsheet to monitor and record your food waste but you’ll also find great downloadable resources through WRAP. They have developed a campaign called Guardians of Grub designed specifically to help Hospitality and Food Service businesses get on top of the problem. They have also created The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap which has been designed in partnership with industry experts and trade bodies to help UK businesses deliver the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 to halve food waste by 2030. Hands-on help is also available to businesses in Scotland through Zero Waste Scotland and Ireland has its own Food Waste Charter . You will find similar initiatives in place across other European countries in support of the EU’s commitment to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 target to halve per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level by 2030, and reduce food losses along the food production and supply chains.
Education, education, education
Food waste reduction requires real effort on the part of everyone along the supply chain and that requires motivation. Educating your team on the scale and seriousness of the problem is essential for them to understand the significance of the measures and changes needed and why they are so worthwhile. Remember this engagement process is a two-way street. To transform the way your Kitchen operates you will need to listen to your team as well as explain what you need them to do. Often teams will take their new learning on board and employ their new food waste reduction skills at home.
There are a number of days and weeks of action through the year that you may find helpful in inspiring your staff by communicating the global importance of what is happening in your kitchen.
Coming up on September 29th is the UN’s International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction . Perhaps a good opportunity to start engaging your team on your plans for the future? This year’s European Waste Reduction Week [takes place between the 16th to the 24th of November 2024 and focuses on Food Waste Reduction this year. It represents a great opportunity not just to engage with your team and get them onboard with your waste reduction strategy but also to communicate with your customers and tell them about your food waste reduction and mitigation strategies. There is widespread consumer awareness of the environmental dangers posed by food waste and tackling it, can be a potent part of your marketing strategy.
5 hot tips on food waste reduction from our expert advisory team
1. The simplest and most effective way to monitor your food waste is a three-bin system which segregates your food waste into three categories: spoilage, plate waste and preparation waste. You can then weight the separate bags – a set of luggage scales are an easy way to do this. Once you have a clear picture of exactly what waste you are producing, you can shape a strategy to reduce it. To succeed, you’ll need to get staff on board with the new procedure, so they fully understand the benefits of analysing food waste.
2. You might think reducing plate waste is out of your hands but there are various ways to tackle it that can reduce your food waste and your costs. A detailed examination of your plate waste will reveal where portion sizes are perhaps too large and could be reduced. You could also introduce smaller size options to your menu.
3. Another option is to get customers to take food waste away with them! A study by Zero Waste Scotland revealed that there is a real appetite for “go boxes” where customers can take food home to enjoy it later. People in the US are totally familiar with the concept, but to overcome British reticence, it’s worth training staff to ask customers if they’d like a container to take food home.
4. There’s nothing worse than throwing away food that could happily have been eaten. Businesses that operate buffet services frequently find themselves with leftover food that just needs a good home. This can be used for staff meals but developing relationships with local food banks is a great way to achieve social goals. Alternatively, you could turn to tech. The “Too good to go” app enables you to offer consumers food at a bargain price while recoupling some of your investment in that food. The Olio app is a great place to find a good home for surplus food.
5. Last but not least, is a reminder that, as a member of Green Tourism, you have exclusive access to expert advice and guidance in the form of our advisors. They will answer your queries on food waste reduction and all other aspects of your sustainability. Just email us at [email protected] and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
