Lesson 4: Chapter 1: Measurement
There’s more to food waste than wasted food.
Growing, processing, and transporting food uses significant resources. If food is wasted, these resources are wasted too. Generally, the management of food waste in any commercial setting requires consistent monitoring and frequent review.
The Stop Food Waste Programme was set up in 2009, as part of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Waste Prevention Programme. Its main aims are to educate the public about food waste and its prevention, as well as home composting. The EPA’s Stop Food Waste Programme in Ireland and WRAP’s (Waste Resources Action Programme) Love Food Hate Waste campaign in the UK bear many similarities.
See how one Irish business used measurement to reduce food waste.
When it comes to food waste, regular measurement and monitoring will go a long way to reduce waste collection costs. Businesses that segregate waste and use a brown bin will benefit all the more on account of incentivised charging for waste collection in the commercial sector. This means that the disposal of food waste and recyclable materials will cost significantly less than general or residual waste.
General Assessment – Get Weighing
When it comes to food waste, measurement is the first step to making savings and bringing about change. To get a better idea of where to start, you need to know what foods are being wasted, and why. If they’re not doing so already, ask your waste contractor to provide food waste weights on your bills.
The next few sections will show the steps in conducting food waste measurement in food service.
Food waste assessment steps
- Take a look at bills and bins.
- Do a general assessment.
- Carry out a detailed assessment.
It’s not a pretty sight but often, you’ll be surprised at what is ending up as waste. Little amounts can build up over the course of a busy service, a day, a week, a year so it’s a good idea to capture what waste arises during one service/day to estimate what this might amount to over time.
Here is the process put simply…
A general assessment will take weights from bin collection bills or measure total food waste over a period of time (e.g. for 1 week). A more detailed food waste assessment breaks down food waste according to where and when it is generated.
Take a look at these case study examples from the FoodTuristic project for more specific information on technological interventions available: