Dive Brief:
- The Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) has released its latest report detailing the progress the food industry — including manufacturers, retailers and restaurants — has made in reducing food waste in its operations.
- Manufacturers repurposed 94% of diverted food waste as animal feed or for land application. Manufacturers also attempted to donate more food and recycle, though regulatory issues and insufficient recycling options proved challenging.
- The report found that major manufacturers had the highest rates of investment in food waste reduction initiatives, with 100% investing in four out of five food waste involvement areas.
Dive Insight:
Out of the three food industry types — manufacturers, retailers and restaurants — manufacturers tend to generate more food waste due to the nature of that they do. However, manufacturers are often able to more easily predict the quantity and types of food waste their facilities will generate in a certain period of time, such as potato peelings for a French fry brand.
Despite food waste volume challenges, that predictability can make it easier for manufacturers to devise innovative ways to efficiently capture and reuse food waste. But because of the form of much of manufacturers' food waste — like peelings and trimmings — waste reduction initiatives often trend toward animal feed and land application rather than food donations.
In some cases, manufacturers have found ways to turn waste into profit by generating additional revenue streams from waste byproducts. Manufacturers have found ways to transform juice wastewater into biplastic beverage packaging, make chips out of vegetables pressed for juice, and even create a premium bottled water brand. These efforts better align with manufacturers' processing and make the best out of this particular segment's most common waste products, as opposed to food donations, which may be better suited for retailers and restaurants.