APAC WASCARS 2021 – Championing Food Waste Reduction
From June to September 2021, the WASCARS, a four-month WasteWatch food waste monitoring competition (or Waste Oscars), was successfully held in the Asia Pacific region, with 56 Sodexo teams from six territories competing for the Best Innovation Award, Best Reduction Award, and Best Engagement Award.
Jp Dimech, CEO Geographic Regions, Region Chair, Asia Pacific and Global Sponsor of WasteWatch, Sodexo, said,
“I’m proud of the work of our ground teams in raising awareness about food waste and supporting the deployment of WasteWatch. This is not only good for the environment but reduces operational costs as well. Let’s continue to work with our clients, consumers and partners to tackle this urgent issue.”
Best Innovation Award
The Sodexo food service team at MOL Magsaysay Maritime Academy (MMMA) in the Philippines developed a detailed approach on how to transform vegetable trimmings into healthy additives to consumer meals, with graphic instructions.
Stephanie O. Salvador, Sodexo’s Contract Manager of MMMA expressed,
“Our team focuses on how to reduce food waste as well as the food cost without compromising the quality of the meals that we serve. This innovation motivates us to think beyond the box on how our little steps on reducing food waste can have a huge positive impact on the environment.”
The Sodexo team at Dulwich College (Singapore) delivered a comprehensive report demonstrating initiatives taken to control food waste. The Sodexo team at Microsoft in Shanghai, China produced an interesting video, demonstrating how they can make the best use of food in a circular manner, achieving zero waste landfill.
The MMMA, Dulwich College (Singapore) and Microsoft teams won the first, second and third place of the Best Innovation awards respectively.
Best Reduction Award
By setting “shared goals” on the WasteWatch system, the Sodexo team at a manufacturing site from Singapore achieved first place in the Best Reduction Award. The Sodexo teams at an oil & gas site in the Philippines and Bollore Logistics’ Green Hub in Singapore respectively achieved the second and third place in this award category.
Best Engagement Award
The Sodexo team at Dulwich College (Singapore) also took home the Best Engagement Award. Through working closely with the client's sustainability committee and student population, they partner on food waste reduction initiatives together. This includes WasteWatch tours conducted to engage students in the on-site cooking and preparation with Sodexo's chefs, and to involve students in weighing and recording waste on the WasteWatch device and analysis of data.
Changdev Kumkar, Sodexo’s Account Manager of Dulwich College (Singapore), said,
“These regular activities & teachable moments with students are not only applauded by school community but also resulted in the reduction of post-consumer food waste at our dining halls. Now, our client sees Sodexo as a capable partner when it comes to achieving the common goals on sustainability in the field of education.”
The Sodexo team at an automotive site in China completed a Coin Campaign designed for reducing consumer plate waste, encouraging consumers to implement sustainable practices by reducing food waste, winning the second place in this category. The Sodexo team at KK Women's & Children's Hospital from Singapore won the third place. Exceptional client and employee engagement and collaboration enabled significant and sustainable success in their WasteWatch program deployment.
Our Journey Ahead
To date, Sodexo has deployed the WasteWatch monitoring program in over 300 locations in the Asia Pacific region. There has been an overall reduction of 26% in food waste so far in fiscal year 2021 compared to the “baseline”. This is the equivalent of avoiding emissions from 3,317 metric tons of CO2. In fiscal year 2022, we will further deploy WasteWatch devices across various locations in the Asia Pacific region.