Food waste: action required throughout the chain

An overview of the issue, solutions and innovative initiatives

The UN climate organization IPCC recently warned of an impending food shortage due to climate change in its climate report. If we want to stop climate change, secure human food supply and protect the remaining biodiversity, action is needed throughout the chain. Reducing food waste plays a crucial role in this.

Waste of food in the Netherlands

Every year in the Netherlands between 1.7 and 2.5 million tons of food are wasted, about 13 percent of the edible food in the Netherlands. Per person in the Netherlands about 41 kilos of food and 57 liters of drink are wasted at home. In the Netherlands, we throw away about 145 euros of food and drink per person per year. The amount of wastage does decrease: in 8 years we went from 48 to 41 kilos of wasted food per person.

The most wasted food in the Netherlands is bread (22 percent of all bread is wasted), followed by dairy (17 percent), vegetables (14 percent), fruit (12 percent) and meat (7 percent). Relatively speaking, the most rice is wasted. 34 percent of purchased rice does not end up in a mouth.

Food waste and impact worldwide

World wide, far more food is produced than is needed to provide all people with enough food. One-third of the world's food is thrown away. That's 1.3 billion tons of food annually, costing the world economy 940 billion euros a year. About half of all fruits and vegetables harvested are lost. One in nine people suffers from a food shortage. That's 793 million people going hungry. If a quarter of all wasted food were saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people. Over 8 percent of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming are caused by food waste. Eliminating food waste would save the atmosphere 4.4 million tons of CO2. That's as much as the emissions from a quarter of all the cars driving around the world.

Half less is possible

Research by Wageningen University & Research shows that 40 to 50 percent less food waste is feasible. Possible contributions to reducing food waste:

• reduce harvest losses
• new storage techniques, smart packaging and useful apps
• information on best-before dates
• aware of how to handle groceries and leftovers

A handy clickable infographic has been created about the various solutions.

Distribution within the chain

Food waste starts early in the chain: 39% of all food waste happens at the producer and thus has never reached the supermarket or catering industry. The 'producer' includes farmers, growers, factories but also product packers and middlemen. At the producer, products are discarded because of, for example, harvest losses, surpluses or a different size or appearance. With food waste, not only the food itself is lost, but also the energy required for growing, packaging, transporting and cooling food.

Valorizing waste streams and food waste. Source: InStock

Moerman's Ladder shows that processing residual streams into consumer food means a higher valorization than, for example, composting. More and more companies are therefore looking for new applications of waste streams in food products.

Sustainability strategy

A growing number of companies have a sustainability strategy in which they take their responsibility to handle raw materials and energy better. Lamb Weston / Meijer and McDonald's, for example, are jointly investigating how to deal more economically with raw materials and limit the emission of greenhouse gases. For example, they found that more than half of the environmental impact of pre-fried French fries is in the use of raw materials. Loss and waste of potatoes was analyzed in its entire value chain 'from field to fork'. The goal is to bring as many potatoes as possible into the food chain, preferably as a pre-fried frozen potato product. If that fails, then as dried potato flakes, which are used as ingredients in other foods.

Buttercup flour instead of wallpaper glue

In a new plant for those dried potato flakes, native potato starch, which is released when potatoes are cut into French fries, is processed. This starch is currently the raw material for biobased technical materials such as wallpaper glue, drilling mud or bioplastics. In the new factory, the starch can be directly rinsed and dried and thus used as a food ingredient, for example in the batter mix that gives some chips an extra crispy layer.

Predicting orders

McDonald's itself reduces food waste with a predictive data system. This allows fries to be baked without causing wait times for consumers. In addition, there is a focus in training on inventory management and planning. Burgers are made according to the 'made to order' principle with which 2000 tons of waste could be prevented in the last 3 years. Food that still ends up in the waste bin is collected separately and fermented. McDonald's is currently investigating whether a higher-quality destination can be found for the chips waste, a purely vegetable flow.

Chain collaboration and circular agriculture

Both companies are now looking further into more intensive chain cooperation. Unambiguous measurement, removal of restrictive legislation and more opportunities for the development of innovative applications are important advantages. For example, insect grower Protix is testing whether their insect larvae grow well on a residual stream created when potatoes are processed into French fries. When the larvae are fully grown, Protix processes them into proteins and fats; ingredients of animal feeds. The skins of the larvae, which consist largely of chitin, are then left over as a residual stream. The effect of this substance is being investigated on the natural control of harmful nematodes, worms that attack the potato. The insect substrate also contains a lot of organic matter that contributes to the overall soil health. Within Lamb Weston / Meijer's sustainable cultivation plan, two potato growers are testing this Protix restroom, among other things to grow potatoes for McDonald's fries.

More inspiration: rural

A lot is already happening at the national level to combat food waste. Some initiatives for inspiration:

• Samen Tegen Voedselverspilling: a foundation in which business, government and knowledge institutions work together to reduce wastage. The concrete goal is to reduce food waste in the Netherlands by 1 million tons per year by 2030. Among others Brightlands and Scelta are affiliated. There is also a voucher scheme from this foundation, for innovations aimed at preventing and reducing food waste or adding value to unavoidable residual streams. The voucher scheme compensates up to 50% of the costs for advice and research by Wageningen Research and third parties. Think of an expert session, a validation, a feasibility study, an opportunity map workshop or a value scan. The value of the voucher is between € 5,000 and € 15,000.
• Too Good To Go: an app against food waste, turning surplus products from bakeries, supermarkets and catering companies into a Magic Box that consumers can buy for a soft price. With over 27,000 partners, over 18 million meals have already been saved and more than 46 million kilograms of CO2 prevented.
• InStock: a company with multiple restaurants and a catering concept that processes 'rejected' products, as well as producer of beer and granola from waste streams. InStock developed a teaching package for elementary school about food waste.
• Circular Entrepreneurship: an online platform that supports the circular economy by organizing activities, sharing knowledge and connecting parties. A separate page has been set up for the theme of Waste.
• The Facebook group FoodSharing connects parties who have surplus food (for example, from the UM canteen) with consumers on a non-commercial basis.
• The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management weighs and measures what products are left over in order to make smarter purchases. The smart scale itself recognizes which product is being weighed.

More inspiration: Limburg

In the Netherlands and specifically in Limburg, much is already happening to make smarter use of residual streams and to combat food waste.

• Scelta: from mushroom feet a natural flavor enhancer is made, which is rich in umami. Read more about Scelta's strategy >
• Kipster: using residual streams for chicken feed, processing rooster meat into burgers and less common parts into new products. Read more about Zuyd students' proposals to Kipster >
• Many pig farmers use residual streams from the food industry, such as French fries and old bread, as feed. Kiempunt previously wrote, for example, about Aad van Leeuwen of Ons Boerenerf who does this very cleverly.
• Vertoro extracts bio-oil from champost, the largest residual flow from Dutch horticulture, an important component for sustainable materials, chemicals and fuels. It is a potential additional source of income for growers .
• Grassa uses a refining technology that recycles grass and vegetable (residual) streams into 4 product types: crude fiber for cows, a protein concentrate, fructooligosaccharides and a mineral concentrate. In this way, 'waste' is turned into animal feed and a plant-based biological fertilizer substitute.
• MiFood processes whole fruits and vegetables (i.e., not just the flesh, but also the skin) into healthy smoothies.

Sources: Sustainable Business, InStock, Milieu Centraal, Voedingscentrum, LIOF, IPCC