Today, more than one third of the food produced is wasted before it reaches the table. Thus, limiting food waste is an important step towards reducing the environmental footprint of food production.
A recent study from University of Oxford estimates that halving global food waste can reduce environmental pressures by 6-16% and that reducing food loss and waste by 75% would reduce environmental pressures by 9-24% compared to the baseline projection for 2050.
The study also points out that we need to reduce the projected food loss and waste by at least 50% by 2050, preferably 75% to avoid uncontrollable harm to the planet’s ability to regenerate.
Succeeding in this demands new technologies and solutions that can enables us to change the way we produce and consume food.
Here are some innovative examples of how we limit food loss and waste.
Psst… Don’t forget to visit the food space at the Global Opportunity Explorer, presenting the most outstanding and promising solutions already implemented.
CocoPallet produces durable shipping pallets made from unused coconut husks.
CocoPallet has produced an alternative to conventional wooden shipping pallets, by producing durable pallets made from coconut waste. The company is taking advantage of the 74 billion coconuts that are harvested every year by turning unused husks into export pallets that are cost effective, pest-repellent, water resistant and biodegradable. In addition, repurposing these husks prevents them from being left to rot or burned, and provides an additional revenue stream for coconut farmers.
Brøl is a Danish nano-brewery tackling food waste by using rescued bread as a key ingredient in their beers.
Brøl, a name that originates from the Danish words for bread (brød) and beer (øl), collects surplus bread from bakeries around Copenhagen. They then use this bread to replace 20% of the grain that would ordinarily go into brewing beers – therefore saving not only the bread, but also some of the refuse grain that is created from breweries. These beers are not only a statement against food waste, but also our unrealistic expectations of consistent produce – because the type of bread they use varies according to the supply, each batch has a distinct and different flavour.
Snact has developed a range of fruit-based snacks made from produce that would otherwise have been wasted, helping to reduce food waste and provide healthy snack options.
Snact rescues produce that fails to meet cosmetic standards and turns it into healthy snack bars. These products have a longer shelf-life than fresh fruit, reducing the volumes of food waste. Their first product was fruit jerky, a dried fruit snack made with 100% fruit and nothing else. They’ve since launched banana bars made with some of the 1.4 million bananas that go to waste in the UK every day.