The amount of food wasted in the US, and the amount of people who lack access to safe and nutritious food in the US, provide two compelling reasons to join forces to reduce waste. The Food Waste Reduction Alliance, comprised of the FMI, GMA, and NRA organizations, was founded to do exactly that. The organization is moving forward with a three pronged approach. First, the Alliance plans on reducing the amount of food waste generated. Second, the organization aims to increase safe food donations to those in need. Finally, the group plans on reducing the remaining amount of food waste by diverting it from the landfill to be recycled.
The Food Waste Reduction Alliance released a new paper, with several interesting infographics, detailing the state of food waste in 2014. The full report can be accessed here: http://www.foodwastealliance.org/about-our-work/assessment/
ES3 is proud to support these efforts, offering all our partners the ability to compost foodwaste and packaging material. Our York facility has a state-of-the-art packaging compost system, which can handle materials like plastic, steel, aluminum, wood, and corrugate, in addition to food waste. In addition, ES3’s automated facility boasts a low damage rate, as automation is programmed to exert the correct amount of force when selecting and storing products.
Reduce, Recover, Reuse Food Waste
NOV 13, 2014By: Laura Abshire, National Restaurant Association; Meghan Stasz, Grocery Manufacturers Association; and Jeanne von Zastrow, Food Marketing Institute
The old adage waste not, want not reminds us that there is direct correlation between the prudent use and the adequate supply of a resource. That is especially true for food, which is why sustainability remains a priority issue among the 1,225 food retailers, 300 food and consumer products companies, and more than 500,000 restaurant businesses, our respective associations represent. While they are three very different links in the food chain, food retailers, food manufacturers and restaurateurs share a common goal when it comes to reducing food waste. Food waste education is a huge and complex issue – bigger than any of us – which is why we forged a business alliance to pool resources, engage new partners and offer educational platforms that help our members address the opportunities, challenges and best practices in reducing food waste.
As founding members of the Food Waste Reduction Alliance, we established our platform with three major business goals: 1.) Reduce food lost within our operations so it never becomes food waste in the first place; 2.) Recover safe and nutritious food that might have been wasted by sending it to our partnering food banks; and 3.) Recycle unavoidable food waste by diverting away from landfill and moving it to productive use, including animal feed, compost or food to energy.
Today, we launched a series of infographics that capture key findings of a new report, the 2014 Analysis of U.S. Food Waste Among Manufacturers, Retailers and Restaurants, prepared by BSR for the Food Waste Reduction Alliance. The infographics offer a quick view of some of the differences found in the three different industry waste streams, but taken together present the bigger picture of our united efforts to waste not, want not.
Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and National Restaurant Association (NRA) represent three big trade associations tackling one big problem: Food Waste.