Many of us are proud to recycle our old items by stopping a wide range of recyclable items like tins, paper, and bottles going to landfill. However, what about food waste? Each person wastes and throws away about 13 kilos of food each year. Not only does this cost money to buy food, which is wasted, it also contributes towards global warming. By not wasting food, the equivalent saving in greenhouse gas emissions would be like taking one in four cars off the road, according to love food hate waste.
In the broader context, food waste recycling should fit into the waste hierarchy that looks at how sustainable we are when dealing with waste. The waste hierarchy consists of waste prevention, waste reuse, recycling, waste (and energy) recovery, and disposal (as a last resort) in decreasing order of sustainability.
You cannot prevent all food waste, but significantly reducing what you throw away is achievable. You cannot eat a banana skin for example, so the skin is a waste by-product that is thrown away. However, what you do with the banana skin is important. Binning it means it will end up as landfill. If you compost it, you can reuse it in your garden.
Buying more food than you can use within its use by date will most likely end up in you throwing it out. Thinking about what you buy can reduce waste. Buy items with a long shelf life or just buy enough fresh items that you will use that day. Remember that you can freeze most foods, so that you can use it later.
Cooking more food than you need is the most common reason for leftovers. Think about what you will do with any leftover food. You may decide to freeze it, feed it to the dog, compost it, or use it in another meal. You can find various recipes online, which use leftover ingredients. Obviously, it would be better to cook just the right amount for the number of people who will be eating it. Cooking less food is one solution, and you can make the portion sizes smaller is another.
Although not strictly reducing food waste, you can reduce associated waste by buying locally sourced products. In this way, you will reduce the amount of energy that has been required to grow, prepare, package, and transport your food. Also, buy loose food rather than pre-packaged food to reduce the amount of extraneous packaging material used to protect your food during transit.
Disposing of food waste must be the last resort. Most food waste can easily be recycled through composting if it is no longer edible. Compost is good for the garden. If you do not have a garden, then you may be able to use municipal facilities for recycling food waste.
Sources:
WRAP, “About Food Waste,” Love Food Hate Waste