Food Waste Reduction Strategy

Agenda Background Research Next Steps SM4RT Living Plan Food Facts Targets Research Food Waste Audits Market Research Next Steps

Food Waste Reduction Background

Waste reduction is the priority In the Beginning … York Region met with local municipalities, businesses, school boards, NGO’s and residents Developed an Integrated Waste Management Master Plan also known as the SM4RT Living Plan Traditionally waste management programs focus on waste diversion from landfill The SM4RT Living Plan focuses first on waste reduction Waste reduction is the priority

Food Waste in York Region First initiative launching from the SM4RT Living Plan York Region manages over 96,000 MT of organics each year from residents through the Green Bin program Green Bin program is a high cost program to manage Projecting this to grow to 128,000 MT by 2031 Over 73 per cent of this tonnage is food Green Bin program is very well used

20% of food thrown out is unnecessary Food Facts Estimated that 40% of food produced in Canada is wasted Over 50% of food wasted occurs within the home 2011 Green Bin audits showed approximately 20% of the food being tossed was avoidable Unavoidable waste includes items such as apple cores, banana peels, bones Avoidable waste includes half eaten yogurt, unused bread, head of lettuce, etc. 20% of food thrown out is unnecessary

20% of food thrown out is unnecessary SM4RT Living Plan Identified food waste reduction as a prime opportunity for waste reduction and cost avoidance Targets: 10% reduction in “food” waste in the Green Bin by 2026 15% reduction in “food” waste in the Green Bin by 2031 Estimated 20 to 30 kg per household per year or roughly 0.5 kg per week needed to meet target 20% of food thrown out is unnecessary

Food Waste Reduction Market Research

Food Waste Audits - Methodology Unavoidable vs. wasted food? How much of the green bin is wasted food? Leftovers vs ‘bought and forgot’? Where is the waste coming from? -Produce -meat -bakery -pasta/rice -other What types of food are wasted most often? What are we missing?

2014 Audit Schedule 4 single family curbside, 3-stream audits (Feb, May, July, Nov) 3 multi-res, 2/3 stream audits (March, July/Aug, Nov)

Sample results (Nov. 2013 Green Bin)

Sample results (Nov. 2013 Green bin)

Food Waste Reduction Surveys Conduct research to better understand current beliefs and behaviours of York Region residents around food waste 2013 phone surveys completed by Ipsos-Reid Focus groups planned for April 2014 Research used to: Identify target audience Create quantitative baseline of awareness and current behaviours Determine potential barriers Determine which actions residents would support or find most helpful Identify motivators to stimulate action Determine most effective method of communication Program to be launched in Spring 2015

Food Waste Reduction Surveys Phone survey data collected from 901 respondents Respondent criteria: York Region residents 18 years of age or older Household member primarily responsible for shopping, preparing meals and discarding food waste Majority surveyed were: Women (72%) Over 35 years of age (94%) Post secondary education (85%) Households of two to four people (73%) Surveys in 2015 to evaluate program success

Food Waste Reduction Surveys Key Findings: Residents are receptive to information about food waste Six in ten residents indicated that they would be very or somewhat interested in learning more about reducing food waste in their home

Food Waste Reduction Surveys Key Findings (continued): There is a gap in respondents’ perception of their performance and their actual behaviour in regards to reducing food waste Eight in ten rate their performance as very or somewhat good in reducing food waste at home, yet; Nine in ten have leftovers from a meal at least once per week, while four in ten claim to have leftovers three to five times per week or more Approximately half of the respondents often or occasionally throw away food that is kept too long, past the best before date or is leftovers on their plate Four in ten throw away food from previous meals they did not end up using Half of the respondents often or occasionally throw away leftovers due to food safety concerns

Food Waste Reduction Research Key Findings (continued): Most shop for groceries once or twice per week Six in ten shop once or twice per week, while 3 in ten shop three times per week or more Saving money is the primary motivator to reduce food waste Eight in ten say saving money would make them likely to reduce their food waste and six in ten rated this as very likely Majority of those surveyed indicated that reducing their food waste is important to them Eight in ten indicated reducing leftovers or unused food thrown away is important and over half rated this as very important Eight in ten strongly agree that it is better to not waste food in the first place than to compost it

Food Waste Reduction Research What’s important to our residents * Women rated all these categories significantly higher than men

Food Waste Reduction Research Frequency of actions

Food Waste Reduction Research Frequency of leftovers * 78 per cent have leftovers more than once per week

Food Waste Reduction Research What food is being thrown away

Food Waste Reduction Next Steps

What’s next? Conducting focus groups early April SM4RT Living Challenge to test messaging, actions and tools Hosting a Community Leaders Focus Group in the Fall Finalizing Communications Plan, education materials for 2015 launch Launching 2015