What’s the problem with food waste?
- Approximately 33% of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year is wasted each year
- When food rots, it creates methane gas (CH4) which has 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide
- Every time food is wasted, the water, energy, time, manpower, land, fertilizer, fuel, packaging and MONEY put into growing, preparing, storing, transporting, cooking the food is wasted.
Food Waste Statistics (UK)
Estimated annual statistics show that UK hotels:
- Produce 289,700 tonnes of waste each year, including 79,000 tonnes of food waste
- Produce 9% of the total food waste across the hospitality and food service sector in the UK
- Only 43% of all waste is recycled.
Similarly, in the United States, 68m tonnes of food waste are produced yearly, with around 39.7m tonnes going to landfill or incineration
Research shows that the majority of food waste comes from food preparation (45%), where the remaining waste is generated from customer plates (34%) and due to spoilage (21%).
WRAP, a UK-based charity, offers 4 steps to help hotels anywhere in the world to reduce and manage food waste. Read more here.