What manufacturers need to know about the food that doesn’t make the cut
Reducing food loss is one way that manufacturers can address can keep costs low in the struggle to address the dual challenge of supply chain inflation and consumer pricing pressures. Yet, while combatting food loss is an opportunity to cut costs, the impact of food loss on manufacturers is more than simply financial. The environmental toll of food waste has ramifications for both the planet and food manufacturers.
Three ways food waste damages the environment
Food loss represents not just a financial loss but also an environmental toll. The impact of food waste is three-fold for the planet: first, food sent to landfill takes up valuable landfill space. Landfill space concerns governments worldwide; the Ontario Waste Management Association predicts that the province will exhaust its landfill capacities by 2036. Second, food in landfill does not break down in a way that returns vital nutrients to the earth’s soils. This means food ending up in landfill pulls nutrients out of the nutrient cycle, an important natural process for the planet’s health. And finally, food sitting in landfill is deprived of oxygen. The absence of oxygen causes rotting food to release a highly potent greenhouse gas: methane.
Why methane matters
Methane is the second most plentiful human-released greenhouse gas in our atmosphere, representing 20% of global emissions. It has an atmospheric warming effect 67 times greater than carbon dioxide over 20 years, degrading air quality and posing a serious risk to human health. Food waste is one of the largest sources of human-produced methane, alongside livestock and oil and gas systems.
The methane produced by former foodstuffs rotting in landfill is an enormous contributor to global emissions. If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, right behind China and the USA.
The only upside to our methane problem is this: as a relatively short-lived pollutant (it remains in the atmosphere for an average of 12 years), it’ll be quicker to fix than our carbon dioxide problem. But only if the various contributors to methane emissions – the fossil fuel industry, agriculture, the food system, and other smaller players – do their part.
The role of manufacturers in combatting food loss
Manufacturers are not solely responsible for global food waste. Loss and waste occur across the food supply chain – from farm to fork. Approximately 14% of food is lost between harvest and retail. A 2022 report by Second Harvest revealed that food manufacturers lose 3.2 million tonnes of edible foodstuffs. The emissions produced by this lost food pose a problem not just for our atmosphere or our food system (climate change threatens the stability of agriculture and, therefore, the very foundations of our food system) — they are also a business risk for manufacturers.
In the age of ESG, environmental risk is also reputational (and financial) risk
Food waste, with its social and environmental consequences, is an issue that consumers and the media are highly attuned to. Consumer and media attention has driven concern among investors, who are pushing for better transparency around corporate waste and waste management practices. The GHG Protocol, the foundation for most global ESG and climate risk disclosure frameworks, includes waste as an upstream Scope 3 emission. GRI, SASB, CDP, and even TCFD recommend disclosing total waste volumes, total waste diverted, and circularity measures taken to address the impact of their waste.
Public disclosure of waste management data could be the beginning of negative media attention for food manufacturers – particularly those with high waste profiles and little plan to address them. On the other hand, for manufacturers on a journey to net zero or carbon neutrality, any additional tonne of CO2e produced represents an additional tonne of CO2e that must be offset. The cost of food loss can be profound when viewed through a net zero lens.
The real winners are the manufacturers who take steps to reduce or even achieve circularity of materials within their supply chains. As a result, these companies can address consumer concerns while capitalizing on the positive reputational benefits associated with improving sustainability practices.
How can food manufacturers achieve circularity?
There are many opportunities for food manufacturers in Canada to convert their former foodstuffs into raw ingredients to fuel the circular economy. For example, recovered food can become bioenergy, fertilizers, textiles for the apparel industry, medicines, pharmaceuticals, packaging, and more.
Third-party providers such as PRI Environmental help food manufacturers capitalize on the circular opportunities of their food by-products, boosting their environmental footprint and bringing in additional revenue. For example, PRI Environmental turns former food into animal feed, helping manufacturers profit from upcycling. Former food products such as bakery goods, crackers, and potato peels become the raw ingredients for highly nutritious animal feed, fuelling the circular economy and diverting significant amounts of food landfill. The positive outcomes of this process benefit the food system, the environment, and consumers (assuming cost savings are passed on). This is a compelling story that manufacturers can easily integrate into sustainability messaging and impact reports.
Join the circular economy with PRI Environmental
PRI Environmental helps food manufacturers in Ontario and Quebec recycle bakery goods into high-quality animal feed. In addition, we conduct process audits to determine how your company operates and where waste is created, as well as opportunity assessments, which offer a detailed look at how you can bring your business into the circular economy and capitalize on overlooked revenue streams.
When we work with clients to minimize food loss, we’re not just diverting waste from landfill and lower harmful emissions; we’re creating something new from the waste that will help provide food for animals across the country.
Interested in learning more about PRI Environmental’s waste recovery options? Contact us today.