Grocers and retailers play a vital role in providing life-sustaining food to people each and every day. In 2012, there were 37,000-plus supermarkets in the United States, ringing up a total of more than $602 billion in food sales, according to Food Marketing Institute data. That’s a lot of food, no matter how you slice it. Of course, not every pound of food that a grocery store carries gets purchased by consumers. Food waste losses (PDF) account for almost $100 billion per year, with $30 billion to $40 billion of those losses occurring in the commercial retail sector, reports the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). How can grocers and retailers do their part to reduce the waste in their sector? Several are stepping up to this challenge. In 2004, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Massachusetts Food Association created a voluntary supermarket recycling program.
Shortly after the program debuted in August 2005, participating supermarkets reported annual savings (PDF) of $3,000 to $20,000 by simply diverting organics. Portland-based New Seasons Market implemented a recycle/compost program (PDF) in 2011 that resulted in a 30 percent reduction in overall garbage volume, composting of 2,410 tons of organic waste, and a waste-expense savings of $26,982. In 2011, Quest Resource Management Group helped a national retailer facilitate the donation of more than 10 million pounds of meat to 125 animal parks across the country. (While still fresh, some meat is not eligible for distribution to food banks and is therefore given to local animal shelters and zoos.)
Quest also helped recycle more than 800 million pounds of food waste in compost and animal feed additives to aid a national retailer’s quest toward zero waste. As you can see from the previous examples, not only does it make environmental sense for grocery stores to implement food waste reduction plans, it helps the bottom line, too. The financial benefits (PDF) of reducing/recovering food waste include: Decreasing disposal fees. (Food banks and others often provide free pick-ups for excess food, and fees for composting can be less than those for landfill/incineration tipping.) Decreasing sewer treatment and electricity costs. (Food waste isn’t going down the drain.)
Decreasing purchasing costs. (The stores find out what’s being wasted and buy only what’s needed.) Increasing tax deductions for food donations to charities. Increasing revenue from selling compost made from food scraps. In many cases, successful food recycling programs can be implemented without incurring extra costs. Program implementation fees can be offset by waste haul fees, given the reduced volume of food waste. Getting Started with a Program: When it comes to saving food from landfills, consumers can help, too. Check out these tips, then encourage your local retailers to think about beginning a food waste reduction program if they don’t already have one. Here are the steps to get them started:
Step 1: Assess your store’s food waste. What are you throwing away? If you must purchase it and it doesn’t sell, can it be diverted from landfill? Identify potential food recovery/reduction opportunities early. A lack of demand may mean your store should purchase less of the item in the first place.
Step 2: Conduct a food waste audit. Collecting this data creates a baseline from which to gauge performance.
Step 3: Plan for costs. Successful food waste reduction programs can be implemented at minimal cost. Look for partnership opportunities in your area that could offset certain costs. Also look for revenue opportunities related to selling your store’s compost.
Step 4: Source reduction. Continue to evaluate ways in which to reduce waste sent to the landfill. Do other (or new) compost opportunities exist? Does purchasing complement consumer demand? Will contamination be an issue?
Step 5: Decide which food options work best for you. A good place to start is the EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy, which encourages source reduction first, followed by feeding hungry people, feeding animals, industrial uses, composting, and finally incineration or landfill. Also, the data you gathered in Step 2 will come in handy as you decide which food recovery will be of most value to your store. Talk to your waste hauler and/or others in the industry.
Step 6: Start the program. Engage key stakeholders early and often, and effectively educate your employees about the benefits and components of your program. Don’t be afraid to start. Training and implementation can be rolled out easily with the right planning. (By Chase Ezell from www.earth911.com)