Does reducing food waste also improve your bottom line?

Food waste typically refers to food that has completed the food supply chain up to a final product, is of good quality and within the ‘use by’ date, but that still doesn’t get consumed. This will usually take place within the retail and consumption stages in the food supply chain. Reducing food waste and improving the management of its disposal can positively impact your company revenues and meet Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) targets, particularly if you are in the public sector or a large corporation.

Strategic action on food waste presents businesses with an opportunity to tackle an increasingly pressing waste management challenge, to leverage the substantial environmental benefits of using food resources efficiently and respectfully, and to respond to the mounting global food security challenge. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) allows businesses large and small to enact positive change. When companies choose to include CSR as part of their business plan, it will not only benefit their bottom line, but will also build trust with consumers. Consumers feel that when they use a product, service or work for a socially responsible company, they are doing their part. The more socially responsible the company, the more supportive the workforce and consumers become. Corporate Social Responsibility helps build trust, raise awareness, and encourage social change.

How to reduce your company’s food waste

You will need to complete an analysis of your purchasing and consumption. Many large corporations and public sector bodies find at the end of the analysis that they are purchasing or making more food than is actually required, and therefore can immediately lower quantities, and in doing so lower their carbon footprint, financial output and other environmental factors.

However, there will always be some form of food waste, and the most environmental way to process this is by using portable compactors and balers. These are ideal for businesses that have large catering needs. Portable compactors have enhanced hygiene levels and less vulnerability to spillage, vermin and insects. They are 100% leak and odour proof, ensuring that they are suitable for collecting and disposing of food waste to recycling centres, hence, preventing them from harming the climate, water, land and biodiversity. Using portable compactors will save your business from trade effluent charges and high disposal costs. Balers will ensure that your company is able to dispose of food and drink packaging by creating neat separate bales of waste which are then easier to recycle, saving your business valuable money.

Combining the use of both a compactor and baler will help reduce the number of waste bins and space you may require. A prominent advantage of this strategy is that there is a reduction in the number and cost of collections that you might incur. And in the spirit of ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’, using a compactor and baler to neatly bale or crush your recycling also helps your waste management company to find partners that can reuse the waste. The benefits do not end there; many businesses can also secure a rebate on packaging waste when you use a compactor and a baler, so it really does make sense to incorporate them into your waste management strategy.

For any more questions about what steps you can take to reduce food waste, get in touch!