Food is where the money is… Food waste and its prevention in the commerical sector Colum Gibson, Clean Technology Centre

What do we know about organic waste in Ireland? In Ireland there is almost half a million tonnes of organic waste generated each year by households and commercial businesses The majority of this is food based waste through it also includes garden and landscape wastes The organic waste is split almost 50: 50 between commercial and household In addition there is significant quantities of process based organic wastes from industrial food processors and producers, much of which goes for rendering

The SFW Programme – 2 key parts Promotion of food waste prevention message Provide information Website, materials, newsletter, social media, commercial information and support, commercial food waste tool (new) National Promotion National Events Donal Skehan, Sheila Kiely and cookery demos Promoting composting Provide Information Master Composters & Demo Sites

Food waste is Expensive When thinking about the cost of food waste, most businesses just think about the disposal costs – but there are other costs to consider It has been estimated that each tonne of food waste can cost between €3,000 - €4,000 – sometimes less, often times more. That is €4 per kilo of food waste! This cost includes: Costs to buy Costs to cook & manage on site Cost of disposal The solution to this waste of money for your business is Food Waste Prevention.

Food Waste Prevention To Prevent Food Waste you must first identify where and why food waste is being generated Then come up with solutions to prevent this waste as close to the wasting point as possible. Before you start, consider: The main food waste producing business types in your area Typical quantities of food waste generated by different business The main types of food waste generated by different business

What are the main food waste producing sectors in your area Difficult to assess – every area is different Best estimate - extract data from the EPA National Waste Characterisation studies (2008) Indicates canteens

How much food waste does your business is produce? There are a series of factors (or indicators) in 2008 Waste Char report for each sector These indicate the amount of waste generated per sectoral factor Factors used are a best estimate based on information available May not be the best actual factor May not have enough data to generate a truly representative value Different sites within a sector may have different set-ups e.g. hospitals, restaurants, hotels, etc. Your business may be better than the norm

Estimated Food Waste Factors   Sector Factor Used Total Waste/Factor tonnes % Food Waste Organic Waste/ Factor tonnes G: Wholesale Employee Numbers 1.957 25 0.48925 G: Food Retail 1.88 37.7 0.70876 G: General Retail (Drapery) 0.832 3.1 0.025792 G: filling stations 2.5 22 0.55 H: Hotels Bed nights 0.00648 43 0.0027864 H: Restaurants 1.741 46 0.80086 I: Transport Travel numbers 0.000148 23 0.00003404 I: Communication 0.436 21 0.09156 J, K & L: Offices (no canteen) 0.126 6 0.00756 M: Education (1st) Student numbers 0.0098 0.002254 M: Education (2nd) 0.026 38 0.00988 M: Education (3rd) 0.042 32 0.01344 N: Hospitals (acute) Hospital Beds 3.09 0.6798 N: Hospitals (long stay) 1.85 0.4625 O: Other Employees 0.75 35 0.2625 CANTEEN Emplyees 0.092 62 0.05704

Example of use of factors If you have a primary school with 200 students then you should be generating: 200 x 0.0098 = 1.96 tonnes of total waste each year Of this, the amount of food waste is 200 x 0.002254 = 0.45 tonnes of food waste annually

In general there are 3 types of food waste

What food is being throwing out? 60% Avoidable: plate scrapings leftovers gone off fruit and veg passed date items damaged stock which cannot be used due to H&S, etc. 20% Potentially Avoidable bread crusts or heels made into bread crumbs vegetable trimmings used for stock and soups meat and fish bones used for stock discarded butter for cooking old fruit for jams and smoothies, etc. 20% Unavoidable banana skins animal bones (before or after used to make stock), unusable prep waste (e.g. potato peels with soil on them), etc.

Where is the food waste being in businesses Different businesses will generate different types of food waste. The ‘where and why’ depends on the type of business: Food Serving Prep Waste Plate Waste Unserved Food Retail/Wholesale Out of date…or is it?? Damaged Deli & fresh sales To identify main areas of food waste then a food waste assessment is the required

3 types of Food Waste Assessment General food waste assessment Overview of site wide information No specifics about where and when food waste is produced Every business do this as part of good management practices Basic food waste assessment Origins of the main food wastes are identified Information from general assessment broken down according to where the food waste comes from Detailed food waste assessment Main types of food waste are examined Times and reasons of generation looked at Can be a time consuming process

1. General Survey of food waste from supermarket

TIP! Remember, make sure your brown bins are full when being removed – do not partially fill lots of bins. Waste contractors usually charge per lift so this will cost you more Example - On getting new brown bins for the catering department, a small west of Ireland Hospital were shocked when they filled the 6 bins before the end of the first week. There was almost 0.7 tonnes of food waste being generated weekly costing ~ €2,800. They have since halved their weekly bills through food waste prevention measures

2. Basic Assessment - Supermarket Survey

Canteen Waste Profile

Identify main sources of food waste Food Waste Survey of on-site canteen:

Examples of detailed surveys Food Waste Survey of on-site canteen: Breakfast 16.8% Lunch 40.4% Dinner 42.8%

Examples of surveys Food Waste Survey of Hospital room:

Once you have the info - what do you do about food waste? Different hierarchies have been proposed Prevention is always the best option

A number of useful Guides

Hot Tomatoes cost €€€’s Monaghan Bar/Restaurant started looking at food waste as part of LAPN project Looked at waste coming back from plates Noted that hot tomatoes were not being eaten Stopped serving them and saved almost €2,000!

Wedding Functions in 2 Hotels Series of changes made between surveys including: Training and awareness Change serving process – central plates Less trimming of veg and meats Better portion control

Intel (USA) Canteen 12,000 meals a week in 2 cafes, generating 1.4 tonnes of pre-consumer food waste per week Overproduction Waste trim Spoilage Expiration Implemented food waste tracking and staff training Waste down by 47% with savings of 13.2%

The on-site management option 27

Sources of information www.ghawards.ie www.localprevention.ie www.greenhealthcareprogramme.ie www.foodwaste.ie http://www.unileverfoodsolutions.ie/our-services/your-kitchen/wiseuponfoodwaste

Remember, food waste = money!