Food Glorious Food Waste Reduction Roadmap

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08 January 2020

Veolia are the first recycling company to join the UK Food Waste Reduction Roadmap - an initiative that aims to get businesses to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.

The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, created by the IGD (The Institute of Grocery Distribution) and WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), is working across the supply chain, from farm to fork, with a target to reduce food waste by 50%.

(According to the United Nations, around a third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted.)

People in need

To support the Roadmap, Veolia is actively encouraging its customers to reduce food waste and amongst other things, ensure food surplus suitable for redistribution goes to feed people in need.

Veolia has multiple operations that currently collect food waste from households, businesses and industrial sources which is recycled to become compost, carbon-neutral energy and organic fertiliser for agriculture.

Commenting on this latest initiative Richard Kirkman, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Veolia said: "We know that we can all help cut food waste in our day-to-day lives. We welcome this important move to halve business food waste in the UK. But it is not always possible to eliminate food waste completely, so to meet carbon zero targets and help mitigate the impact of climate change it is essential we collect this material and use it as a new resource for generating green energy and produce valuable organic products such as compost and fertilisers.

"Through innovation and new technologies, we can make sure we realise the real potential that is currently going to waste and deliver a more sustainable future."

Climate change

Peter Maddox, WRAP Director, said: “The link between food waste and climate change is something we can no longer ignore. Globally, around a third of all food is wasted and the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) estimated that food waste contributed nearly 10% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions, between 2010 and 2016.

"Waste management companies such as Veolia have an important role to play in helping to mitigate against this problem through engaging with their client base. We are delighted that Veolia is supporting the UK Food Waste Reduction Roadmap in this way and will work with its clients to influence change. We would encourage others to follow its lead.”

Sustainable Development Goal

In 2015, in response to the need for urgent action, countries of the world formally adopted a global food waste reduction target - Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3. The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap is aligned with SDG 12.3, and with the UK’s own targets for food waste reduction under the Courtauld Commitment 2025. WRAP will report on progress against the Roadmap milestones in 2022 and 2026, alongside reports on progress towards the Courtauld 2025. The final report on SDG12.3 expected in 2031.

Pictures: Typical food waste and two views from a Veolia CHP (combined heat and power) plant. These plants process 250,000 tonnes of food waste to generate around 35GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to powering 11,000 homes a year.

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 08 January 2020

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