In the news; General
Google’s new software against food waste
Google has created a software against food waste in collaboration with chefs, supermarkets and growers. This software ensures that leftover food is redistributed as quickly as possible and as smartly as possible to places where it is needed. The software also looks at...
Promising results from Tesco’s ‘No Time For Waste’ challenge
A recent trial carried out by British supermarket Tesco and environmental charity Hubbub saw a 76% decrease in household food waste with the households also reporting to have saved £16.50 per week by taking part. The 'No Time For Waste' Challenge During a...
12.8 million wasted pumpkins: the scary truth about Halloween
New research has revealed that over half of the 24 million pumpkins expected to be carved during the Halloween period in the UK, will be wasted. That's enough to feed everyone in the UK with a bowl of delicious pumpkin soup! 'Eat Your Pumpkin' Commissioned by...
The Earthshot Prize: No waste forms major part of most ambitious environmental goals in history
On Thursday 8th September 2020, The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge launched The Earthshot Prize. This new global reward scheme, inspired by President John F. Kennedy's Moonshot, aims to tackle some of the world's biggest environmental problems...
The United Nation’s 17 goals for sustainable development
In 2015, all the member states of the United Nations agreed on 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) which outlines the collective ambition for 'peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future'. The SDG's form a major part of The 2030...
China launches campaign against food waste
China has launched a new campaign against food waste. This happened after Chinese President Xi Jinping insisted on this. He called the numbers of food wasted in China shocking and disturbing. The COVID-19 crisis and severe floods are also related to the president's...
28th September | Sir David Attenborough to premiere new feature film: A Life On Our Planet
This autumn Sir David Attenborough, famous for Planet Earth and Our Planet, will release a new feature film, David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet. The film will be shown in cinemas globally and delves deeper into exploring the planet and protecting it for future...
PBL: Use influencers to change consumer food consumption
Consumers are not only able to eat more sustainably and healthily, according to a new study carried out by the PBL (Planning Bureau for the Environment in the Netherlands). The advisory body recommends, among other things, to use influencers to entice consumers to...
29th of September | International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste
On September 29th it is International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. This day will be centered around food loss and waste. The day was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It is the intention that this day will reflect on...
AI rubbish bin reduces food waste
A Swiss start-up is helping companies measure their food waste. After all, we have to measure things often to be able to improve them. The Kitro company has designed an AI rubbish bin that measures how much food is thrown away. In this way, companies gain insight into...
British retailer Iceland reduces food waste by 2.500 tons
A UK-based retailer has saved around 2.500 tons of food over the past two years. Retailer Iceland explains they have reduced their food waste by nearly a quarter since the beginning of 2018. By using proven methods for reducing food waste they managed to get to this...
Less food waste in the Netherlands during the corona crisis
A new study by Wageningen Food & Biobased Research has shown that a quarter of Dutch households waste less food during the corona crisis compared to before. They conducted this research in collaboration with the Dutch center for nutrition, het Voedingscentrum. The...
Using eggshells and tomatoes to make sustainable rubber tires
Eggshells, tomato peels and many other different types of food that are being thrown out can be reused and turned into sustainable rubber. This rubber can be used in tires as found by researchers a while ago. The material that would usually be used to fill the rubber...
Roompot and Too Good To Go enter into cooperation
Roompot has entered into a partnership with Too Good To Go, which means that they can save about 20,000 meals annually. Currently, there are 19 different parks from Roompot that offer daily surpluses in the Too Good To Go app. The so-called "Magic Boxes" are filled...
Drop in food waste during UK lockdown
UK citizens have risen to the challenge of lockdown by making the food they buy last longer and go further, according to the latest survey into food habits, behaviours and attitudes from WRAP. With supermarkets operating strict social distancing rules, restaurants...
We have to move towards a more sustainable food system
A new research report shows that we need to change the way we produce and distribute food to ensure better food security in the future. This is concluded by European scientists concerned with the question of how this change should take place. Katrien Termeer,...
22nd April | World Earth Day
Today it's World Earth Day. And it may be more of a relevant topic than ever. In the current times, where the vulnerability of people and the planet is extra visible. That is why it is important today to pay extra attention to how pollution and waste, in any way, can...
Sustainable packaging by means of laser technology
PerfoTec has an innovative way of packaging called the Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP). With the use of new techniques, the company tries to package food in a safer, cheaper and more sustainable way. The goal is to reduce waste and costs because the productivity...
Dutch supermarkets provide insight in food waste
On average, 98.3% of all food offered by supermarkets in the Netherlands is sold. 1.7% of the food, in kilograms, does not reach the consumer. This shows research carried out by supermarkets, the Central Food Trade Agency (CBL), Wageningen University & Research...
Measuring food waste with smart scale
In the Netherlands, approximately 200,000 tons of food are thrown away every year. This concerns both foods that have already been prepared and unprepared foods. The start-up Zero foodwaste wants to provide insight into this waste pattern in the catering industry by...
Bioprotection to reduce food waste and plastic use
Bioprotection is a method in which a specific combination of bacteria is added, which in turn inhibits other bacterial growth. This ultimately produces less lactic acid, which is beneficial for the shelf life. Bioprotection is thus a way to combat food waste and also...
Using the Internet of Things to combat food waste in the ‘fresh’ industry
The way in which we manage the conditions during the transport of fresh products causes big losses in value. Fruit transport alone, for example, involves a value loss of 5-8%. TNO and Wageningen Food & Biobased Research are responsible for a new study in which...
Reducing food waste by using the right packaging
Pere Fullana i Palmer participated in the round table conference on the circular economy of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Fullana i Palmer is a UN observer at the climate summit in Madrid, in addition to being the director of the UNESCO Chair...
British research about tackling food waste in supermarkets
A recent research from the British WRAP (Waste & Resource Action Programme) shows that supermarkets in the UK can reduce a large share of consumer food waste by taking measures. One of the points is a reduction of €4.7 bln in food that's thrown away. This can be...
$400 billion on worldwide food waste per year
Before the products even arrive in store there is already almost $400 billion lost in food waste worldwide. This was shown by research by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) from the United Nations. Every year no less than 14% of all food is lost, the report...
Metro tests real-time shelf life indicator to reduce food waste
About the innovation The Metro Group has tested the "FreshIndex" app in five of its hypermarkets. The index is based on the hygiene data of manufacturers and the actual storage conditions of products. The FreshIndex is not printed as a fixed best-before date. Instead,...
Too Good To Go app helps restaurants prevent 2,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions
Food waste fighting app ‘Too Good To Go’ announced yesterday (30 September) that it has saved one million meals in the UK since its launch in 2016, preventing an estimated 2,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Too Good To Go reduces restaurant waste by linking customers to...
Is the World on Track to Cut Food Loss and Waste in Half by 2030?
In 2015, countries committed to Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which calls for the world to halve food loss and waste by 2030. Making significant reductions in food loss and waste is not just nice to have; it is essential if the world is to achieve the reductions...
Fight food waste with the help of a waste monitor
Per year almost 150 million kilo's of food is lost to the rubbish bin from catering businesses, even though this is often still perfectly edible. By means of a waste monitor introduced by Zero Foodwaste they are trying to reduce food waste. In the kitchen at Novotel...
Longer shelf-life due to laser technology
By means of a new technological development the shelf-life of fresh potatoes, vegetables and fruit can soon be prolonged. Belmark and PerfoTec are together working on the development of a laser technology that not only reduces food waste, but also the CO2 emissions....
16th October | Youth World Food Day in Ede
The UN World Food Organisation announced that 16th October will be World Food Day. This day takes on worldwide challenges in the area of food. This should encourage people to think about a more sustainable and healthier eating pattern to keep the planet inhabitable....
Less food waste through the use of 3D-printers
By using a 3D printer, 2 industrial design students at the Technical University Eindhoven are re-using food that would otherwise be thrown away. Their company Upprinting Food is focused on printing decorative and edible components for dishes. Elzelinde van Doleweerd,...
How Can You Reduce Food Waste by Using Weighing Scales?
Here is one fact that is difficult to digest - roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year gets lost or wasted. That is approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste per year. Every time...
Ahold takes further steps to counteract food waste
Ahold Delhaize, the mother company of Albert Heijn, eagerly wants to do more to counteract food waste. There's a reduction of 50% by 2030 on the agenda. This is a big change compared to their earlier target of a decrease of 20% by 2020. The UN Climate Summit in New...
Poland makes food waste prosecutable
Poland has adopted a new legislation requiring stores to pass on any unsold food to charities free of charge. Retailers that throw away food, receive a fine. This was reported by the polish press agency PAP. According to the new law, stores larger than 250 metres...
Finnish supermarket chain S-Markets launches big campaign against food waste
To combat food waste, no less than nine hundred shops of the Finnish chain S-Markets have set up a campaign in which products are sold at a lower price. Products that are close to their expiration date are then offered at a 30 percent discount. When the products are...