Food waste is a significant contributor to carbon emissions and global warming, due to the energy and resources that go into growing and transporting food, giving it a greater carbon footprint than plastic waste. This climate impact is aggravated when food waste is sent to landfill, where it produces methane, one of the most damaging greenhouse gases. It is all of our responsibilities to contribute towards better waste management across all sectors and at home.

 According to new reports from Zero Waste Scotland last month, food waste recycling in Scotland has increased by 40% since 2013. Commenting on the figures, Iain Gulland, Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, stated: 

“Scotland should be proud, the recycling of more food waste into sustainable energy is an incredible achievement. The rise in recycled food waste is welcome news for Scotland’s economy and for the planet. When we waste food, we also waste the resources that went into growing, processing, transporting and packaging it, so it is hugely important that we use what we have. Of course, some food waste is inevitable – we can’t escape waste of items like fruit and vegetable peel” 

At Inspire, we do everything we can to avoid food going to landfill by managing our food production and minimising plate waste wherever possible. We have shown real and consistent commitment to tackling food waste, working with staff and customers to reduce waste and eliminate food to landfill. 

It’s been particularly important for us to consistently come up with creative ways in which we can continue to take the lead in this area, from training staff to being Love Food Hate Waste ambassadors, to initiating waste reduction projects and competition at various client sites. We are proud to work in partnership with all of our clients towards achieving our joint environmental objectives. 

🍎 Did you know…

-The true cost of disposing of 1kg of food waste is £2.20

– We weigh and record all food waste daily 

– We use tomato tops/ends for soup, pepper trimmings for sauces/soups and bread heels for making croutons 

-Surplus vegetables are often used for soup the next day

-Our coffee grinds make excellent compost for your garden

-If we all stopped throwing away food that could have been eaten, it would have the same carbon impact as taking 1 in 4 cars off Scotland’s roads!

🌿  What we are doing to help reduce waste at our facilities

-We have trained Love Food Hate Waste ambassadors in most of our sites

-We segregate, weigh and record our food waste into categories

-We have run food waste awareness posters across our client sites as part of the Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW) campaign to help educate our customers with top tips that they can take away and put into action in their day-to-day lives

-In our schools, we have run a number of Food Waste Mascot Competitions for pupils

-Scott Archer from Kelvinside Academy has contributed a recipe and top tips to the Love Food Hate Waste Recipe booklet

According to Zero Waste Scotland, the Scottish Government has committed to a target to reduce all food waste by 33% by 2025. At Inspire, we will continue to pioneer our waste management objectives and our contribution to Love Food Hate Waste initiative to help us all make the most of the food we love!