Waste Management in the Food Processing Industry: Eco-efficiency at university canteensLisa Wonka
27 July 2017
Reducing food waste is a valuable tool for achieving eco-efficiency gains in the food processing industry. In Germany, however, there is still little reliable data available, which allows the quantification of the actual rates of food waste and the related economic and environmental costs in university canteens. For this reason, the present study aims at investigating the economic and ecological saving potential, which can be achieved by reducing food waste in university canteens. Furthermore, practical strategies for achieving this saving potential are identified. The results indicate that about 70% of food waste can be avoided. The largest sources of avoidable food waste are surpluses with a share of 37% of the total food waste amount and plate waste with a share of approx. 24%. By reducing surpluses and plate waste in all of the canteens supported by the Studierendenwerk Hamburg by 15%, an amount of about € 90.000 could be saved each year. At the same time, there is an ecological saving potential of approx. 113 tons of CO2 equivalents per year. The derived recommendations can roughly be divided into the areas of internal and external communication as well as measures aimed at organizational and material structural changes. Overall, it has become clear that even small and short-term measures can considerably contribute to the reduction of biogenic waste rates in university canteens. The study provides a valuable impetus for further research in which the product-specific resource consumption should be taken into account.