Last week (7 March) marked the second annual Food Waste Action Week, which aimed to get the message out about food waste and climate change. The initiative was organised by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a non-profit organisation working across six continents.
The link between food waste and CO2 emissions.
Their key message from Food Waste Action Week was that wasting food is both:
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- a fundamental misuse of natural resources (i.e. land used to grow food, energy to extract and process food, transport to deliver food – but the food is never consumed)
- a carbon creator as, when put into landfill sites, food waste emits methane and other greenhouse gases.
This may seem a simple connection, yet according to a survey conducted by the WRAP Love Food Hate Waste team, only one in three people see the link between food waste and climate change.
UK households waste the equivalent of eight meals a week on average, according to WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme charity).
“The aim of Food Waste Action Week is to create lasting change that helps to deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goal of halving global food waste by 2030,” WRAP’s site states.
How Westminster businesses can improve food waste management in two steps.
The first step is to avoid food waste by only ordering what your business needs. By reducing excess food waste, you are reducing the energy, costs, and water usage it would take to grow, manufacture, transport, and sell excess food.
When disposing of food is absolutely necessary, the second step is to consider how to do so properly. We don’t want to see food waste ending up in landfill sites where it emits methane and other greenhouse gases. Food waste can be used to create both fertilisers and energy and so can positively contribute to the climate instead of damaging it.
With proper waste management, you can play your part in disposing of your food waste in the right way. One way to do so is through our dedicated food waste collection service.
To learn more about reducing food waste, download our guide.
