Taking the Lead in Reducing Food Waste

Food is everywhere. It plays a central role in our daily lives and relationships and is fundamental to human existence but producing it and wasting it comes with an environmental cost.

When people talk about climate change, food waste is generally not the first topic which comes to mind.  However, according to WWF, food waste is responsible for 10% of all emissions caused by human activity globally. In fact, wasting food generates more greenhouse gas emissions each year than all the commercial flights in the world.

Did You Know?

In 2020, Singapore wasted a shocking 665,000 tonnes of food! That’s the same as 1.5 bowls of rice per person, per day or around 46,000 double decker buses. Hence, food waste puts a burden on our waste disposal system and represents a loss of the resources used to grow, transport and prepare the food. 

WasteWatch Programme

Sodexo’s WasteWatch programme, powered by Leanpath, helps to address this issue. It reduces food waste at the source, where resource wastage avoided can be used to produce food for those who need it and reduces carbon emissions which has a positive impact on the environment. 

WasteWatch leverages Leanpath's intelligent waste-measurement technology for Sodexo kitchen teams to easily collect data on food waste in our food service operations. Sodexo uses the suite of tools to analyse the data and engages team members to implement the operational and behavioural changes need to eliminate excess food waste produced by our kitchens or discarded by our consumers. This innovation is also great for business, where we have brought food cost down through less wastage and acquired new clients who are increasingly looking for partners who can help them become more sustainable. 

The WasteWatch programme has sparked creative solutions such as:  

Through this innovation which reduces food waste, businesses can better manage costs especially amidst global inflation, reduce carbon emissions, and redirect resources towards fighting hunger in the community. Ultimately, the environment and humanity benefit the most, where less carbon emissions help mitigate global warming and food resources can reach those who need them the most.  

At Sodexo, with 60% of our business linked to food and serving million consumers worldwide each day, we know how important preventing food waste is. Fighting against food waste is the single most important climate and social action we can take to cut our emissions as an organization and we’ve taken the ambitious commitment to reduce our food waste as a business by 50% by 2025. This also supports Singapore’s Green Plan 2030.

We are the first global food services company to connect our financing to action to prevent food waste. The WasteWatch programme and its intelligent waste-measurement technology make it easy for our teams to collect data on food waste in our cafeterias and dining halls, and eliminate waste produced by our kitchens or thrown out by our consumers. 

Learn more about our sustainability initiatives or read this article about our circular economy approach in reducing food waste!