BIOBIN REDUCES FOOD WASTE

Increasing pressure is being placed on role players within the South African food supply chain to reduce food loss and waste at all stages. The estimated edible portion of food waste throughout the supply chain in South Africa is 10.2 million tonnes per year, broken down into agricultural production, post-harvest handling and storage, processing and packaging, distribution and the consumption stage.

While the majority of food waste occurs during agricultural production, this stage cannot be treated in isolation. Brian Kusel of BiobiN South Africa says that a singular food waste management plan applicable to the entire food supply chain will redirect food waste from all stages to organic waste repurposing units such as vessel composting units. This model will apply the same standards for handling food waste across an entire supply chain, when the composting technology is available.

According to the CSIR, food waste costs South Africa R10 billion every year, considering the resources lost. Increasing landfill pressure is also making food waste disposal at landfill more costly as the rate for disposing organic waste is rapidly increasing. The Western Cape has also earmarked a complete organic waste landfill ban by 2027, requiring all food and organic waste generators to find alternative waste treatment solutions such as composting.

Companies within the food and retail sectors should now be prioritising food waste reduction and landfill diversion initiatives. If nothing changes, the increasing landfill costs and costs of resource inefficiency will be absorbed further into food shelf prices.

Implementing a single food and organic waste management plan across an entire supply chain will open up opportunities to reduce waste management costs for all companies within the supply chain.

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