Reducing food waste is good for profits , too , say sustainable waste management experts
A leading sustainable waste management company says manufacturers who take action to reduce their food waste can also boost their bottom line .
Nicola Guest , Group Marketing Manager for Waste Mission
Pressure is mounting from customers , investors and regulatory bodies for businesses to become more sustainable – with cutting food waste high on their list of green demands .
Waste management specialist Waste Mission urges businesses to rethink their food waste , seeing it as an opportunity rather than a challenge .
By recycling , redistributing , or reprocessing food rather than paying to send it to landfills , businesses can create additional revenue streams , reduce waste management costs , and boost their green credentials .
Nicola Guest , Group Marketing Manager for Waste Mission , points out that the estimated monetary value of the UK ’ s annual food waste is £ 21.8 billion .
‘ We talk to many businesses across the UK for whom food waste is a major headache , not least for health and disposal ,’ she says . ‘ But in fact , there ’ s no such thing as food “ waste ”: it ’ s a valuable commodity we ’ re just throwing away , with all the risks that poses for people and planet .’
Among the food waste management services that Waste Mission provides nationally from its Hertfordshire HQ is anaerobic digestion . This process converts food waste into biogas , a renewable energy source : one tonne of food waste can generate about 300 kWh
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– enough to power a fridge for four months .
Similarly , rendering is a process which recycles food waste ( including bones ) into fats , oils and protein meals used as the basis for animal feed .
The issue of food waste has become more acute amid a costof-living crisis , rising food poverty , and the climate crisis . Thirty percent of consumers surveyed by Deloitte last year say they have stopped buying products due to ethical or sustainability-related concerns .
The UK alone produces more than 10 million tonnes of food waste a year ( WRAP , 2023 ), most of which ends up in landfill . Of this , 6.4 million tonnes are edible .
In landfill , decomposing food produces methane , a powerful greenhouse gas . Food production , processing and packaging accounts for more than a third of global greenhouse gas emissions .
The regulatory environment around food waste is tightening . From March 2025 , all UK businesses will be required to separate food waste from other types of waste and arrange separate collections from designated containers .
This March , six major supermarkets were among signatories to an open letter to the government calling for mandatory food waste reporting for large firms .
The Courtauld Commitment sets the UK the target of halving food waste ( post-farm gate ) by 2030 ( compared to 2007 levels ).
‘ The time to act on food waste is now because businesses are going to have to do more and soon ,’ says Nicola Guest of Waste Mission .
Waste Mission offers comprehensive waste management solutions – from waste collection to strategic sustainability planning – for all types of waste streams . It helps businesses transform waste into revenue , comply with industry standards , and strengthen their green credentials , while at the same time often streamlining processes . All its waste processing takes place in the UK .
Book a waste review at www . wastemission . com