The benefits of recycling food waste may or may not be fully understood by all sectors of hospitality, however, the statistics around waste could not be starker.
An incredible 920,000 tonnes of food is wasted by U.K hospitality businesses each year, 75% of which is completely avoidable.
It is thought that an average sized restaurant will throw away the equivalent of £100,000 to landfill in wasted food every year. Imagine having that to spend on staff?
Landfill is expected to reach maximum capacity possibly by 2020 as the U.K continues to lag behind all 27 E.U countries when it comes to recycling food waste. Whilst it is getting easier for caterers to access recycling methods that can divert waste from landfill by converting food into green energy, so much more can be done to address the issue of waste as soon as fresh produce comes into the kitchen.
Reducing restaurant waste doesn’t have to be hard. Even something small like replacing paper napkins with cloth ones can help save your wallet and the environment in the long run. A larger investment like a POS system might seem like too big a cost to deal with, but tracking inventory helps to ensure you’re only buying what you need, and you can gauge when it will go bad. A big purchase now saves money in the long run whilst donating anything you can’t use can make a big difference to those in food poverty.
Little things will always help too – small plate and portion sizes, composting waste for recycled energy and even offering doggie bags can address a growing problem.
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