What are the Challenges of Food Waste in Hospitality Sector?
While we all bear some responsibility for contributing to the global food waste epidemic, the hospitality industry, along with other commercial food producers and manufacturers, contributes far more.
Reasons for food wastage in hospitality sector
· Weddings, festivals and other social gatherings
It comes as no surprise that most of the food offered at weddings, festivals and other such celebrations routinely goes to waste. This frequently occurs as a result of individuals over-serving themselves and then finding it impossible to finish their portions. Similarly, when planning an event, food is bought in excess to guarantee that everyone is served. It is sometimes thrown out rather than being donated to the poor.
· Restaurants, Hotels and Fast-Food establishments
The meal is typically prepared in excess at restaurants and guests may not always find it able to complete the food that they order, owing to the huge amounts that are offered to them. These variables, when combined, result in a considerable amount of food being wasted by restaurants, hotels and other food establishments.
· Food Waste during manufacturing
Aside from individual and commercial food loss during eating, a considerable fraction of food is wasted during manufacturing. For example, while harvesting crops, defective machinery can damage and waste food that would otherwise be fit for human consumption. Similarly, when machinery breaks during industrial manufacturing of food, it is frequently more cost-effective to let it run through a whole batch of food that will be wasted than to halt the gear in the middle of a production line and fix it.
Impact of food waste in hospitality sector
· Landfills
Landfills are formed when massive volumes of waste are deposited at certain locations before being handled. Due to the huge volume of waste created by city dwellers, landfills take up a large amount of space in big Indian cities.
· Global Warming and methane gas formation
Given that the majority of solid waste is created by discarded extra food, these landfills also contribute to methane generation. Methane is a gas that is naturally created as vegetable waste decomposes and it has been linked to global warming.
· Disease spreading vermin’s
Vegetable waste piles frequently attract rats and other pests, resulting in the spread of numerous diseases among those who reside near such dumps.
· Pollution of groundwater
When solid waste piles degrade, they frequently create a discharge. This release, known as leachate, has the potential to seep below and damage the groundwater in that area.
Solutions for the challenge of food waste in the hospitality sector
1: When it comes to mitigating the effects of food waste, our top priority must be a reduction in our consumption. For example, while shopping for food, we must ensure that we only buy what we are positive, we will consume, before it expires. Furthermore, any extra food produced must be distributed to those in need.
2: Composting is another method of decreasing food waste. There are several products that may be installed in both home and commercial kitchens to crush food waste from vegetables, meat, and poultry, which can then be composted.
Netsol Water, as solid waste management partner for you, can provide you with the residential and commercial food waste recyclers. Domestic Food Recyclers break waste into a fertilizer, which can be used in gardens. By employing the approaches outlined above, we may considerably minimize the quantity of food wasted.