Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This three-pronged strategy is designed to extract the maximum value from food use.
There’s no doubt that food waste is a complex and interconnected problem, a web of issues that touches upon everything from agriculture to operations to consumer attitudes. Most observers see waste management as part of the circular economy, such as the EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy, which is designed to extract the maximum value from food use.1
Many gates in the food recovery hierarchy—such as feeding animals or converting oil and grease to biogas—may be impractical for all but the largest or most committed foodservice operations, however the principles remain the same. Simply stated, the goal is to reduce what comes in, utilize as much of it as possible, and minimize what goes out to landfill through a simple three-pronged approach:
Reduce—Reducing waste begins with smart menu planning and purchasing, and then continues with proper storage and preparation techniques
Reuse—There are numerous options for recovering what would be wasted food, including donations. Their effectiveness varies depending on location and regulatory barriers
Recycle—Composting and livestock feed are hot topics in preventing food waste
Collectively, the so-called Three Rs of waste management—reduce, reuse, and recycle—all help to cut down on the waste that goes to landfill. This in turn conserves natural resources, land, and energy. It also saves money.
According to ReFED, solutions that prevent waste in businesses and homes (the reduction piece) have the greatest economic value per ton and net environmental benefit, diverting 2.6 million tons of annual waste, for an annual savings of $7.7 billion. This could reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 9.7 million tons, and water by 1.2 trillion gallons.2
Food recovery (reuse), can increase the number of meals available by 1.8 billion meals annually, diverting 1.1 million tons of waste, for an annual economic value of $2.4 billion. That also translates to a potential reduction of 3.4 million tons of GHGs.2
Recycling, including composting, carries an annual diversion potential of 9.5 million tons, for an economic savings of $121 million and 4.8 million tons of greenhouse gases.2
Although there are variations on the theme, this three-pronged approach helps make sense of a problem that can be overwhelming.
OPERATOR SPOTLIGHT Compass Group USA and its Bon Appétit Management Company division launched the Imperfectly Delicious Produce program after dialogue with suppliers helped identify an abundance of underappreciated items at farms: crooked carrots, loose broccoli florets, small romaine leaves, and hail-damaged apples. Both companies now recover these and other items for use in hundreds of their cafés around the country.
Sources: [1] Environmental Protection Agency. [2] ReFED, “A Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste by 20 Percent” (2016).
