1. Food Waste Reduction Strategy

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

3. Food Waste Reduction
Background

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. Food Waste Reduction
Market Research

9. 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?

10. 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)

11. Sample results (Nov. 2013 Green Bin)

12. Sample results (Nov. 2013 Green bin)

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

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

19. Food Waste Reduction Research
Frequency of actions

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

21. Food Waste Reduction Research
What food is being thrown away

22. Food Waste Reduction
Next Steps

23. 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