Effie Paprgyropoulou
Sustainable food surplus & waste management and the circular economy Effie Papargyropoulou University of Leeds, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) HENVI SCIENCE DAY Towards Circular Economy – Designing a Sustainable Food Cycle 21st April 2015, University of Helsinki Source: Tristram Stuart (2009) Waste: Uncovering the global food Source: Tristram Stuart (2009) Waste: Uncovering the global food scandal Source: Tristram Stuart (2009) Waste: Uncovering the global food North America & Europe discard 30 - 50% of food supplies enough to feed the world's hungry 3 times over Impacts • Social ▫ Food security ▫ Ethical issues of food waste & food poverty • Economic ▫ Loss in productivity, energy, natural resources, disposal costs Global food wastage costs USD750 billion to USD1 trillion in 2007 (producer vs retail prices) (FAO, 2013) Total cost of global food waste > US$2 trillion a year incl environmental (US$700 billion) & social costs at US$1 trillion • Environmental ▫ Greenhouse gases (CH4, CO2) 7% due to food waste ▫ Pollution (air, rivers, groundwater, soil) ▫ Limited natural resources Prevention Re-use Recycle Recovery Disposal • Avoid surplus food generation throughout FSC • Prevent avoidable food waste generation throughout FSC • Re-use surplus food for human consumption for people affected by food poverty, through redistribution networks and food banks • Recycle food waste into animal feed • Recycle food waste via composting • Treat unavoidable food waste and recover energy: e.g. via anaerobic digestion • Dispose unavoidable food waste into engineered landfill with landfill gas utilisation system in place, only as the last option Re-use for human consumption Prevention Avoidable food waste Animal feed Recycling Composting Food waste Animal feed Recycling Composting Unavoidable food waste Energy recovery Disposal Anaerobic Digestion Least Favourable Option Unfit for human consumption Surplus becomes waste when it becomes inedible Fit for human consumption Food Surplus Most Favourable Option Prevention Prevention potential • Reducing food waste by 50% between 2012 & 2020 = annual savings of €192 per person (US$270) or a saving of €94.4 billion (US$130 billion) for the EU as a whole (Rutten et al 2013) • Avoidable household food waste reduced by 21% over 5 years (WRAP, 2013) ▫ retail value £3.3 billion (US$5.3 billion) in 2012 ▫ 4.4 million tonnes of GHG/yr= 1.8 million cars off UK roads ▫ billion tonnes of water Households • Love Food Hate Waste ▫ changes in behaviour & reductions in food waste (ca 15% of total household food waste) ▫ for every £1 invested up to £8 was saved (WRAP 2013) Visit: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com Courtauld Commitment - Retailers • Voluntary agreement aimed at improving resource efficiency & reducing the carbon & environmental impact of the grocery retail sector • food & packaging waste in grocery supply chain reduced by 7.4% over 3 years (WRAP 2013) ▫ net benefit > £1.2 billion (US $1.9 billion) for household food waste ▫ £230 million (US $370 million) for supply chain waste (WRAP, DEFRA 2013) ▫ low-cost solutions, changes to processes, procedures, interactions between people & organisations. National Industrial Symbiosis Programme • Non profit programme: brings together industries for resource efficiency & sustainability • Case Study: Seafood supplier recycles redundant stock of breadcrumbs into supplement to dog biscuits • http://www.nisp.org.uk Hospitality sector Too Good to Waste Campaign http://www.thesra.org/ SRA tool kit • Waste audit: how much food waste, where, when, what kind of waste is produced • Advice for reducing avoidable food waste & disposing responsibly of unavoidable food waste HaFS • 5% prevention by 2015 (bsl 2012) • 70% recycling, composting or AD by 2015 Food Cycle • Food redistribution & reuse • http://www.foodcycle.org.uk/ Global initiatives • UNEP, FAO campaign • Waste prevention tool kit • http://thinkeatsave.org/ Thank you [email protected] [email protected]
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