In part 2, we explore some further insight from Resource Hot 100 nominee Julian Parfitt on tackling food waste as a consumer, a business, and on a national scale - read part 1 here. 

What do you see as the first steps a business can take in tackling food waste?

For a business that operates in the food and beverage sector, one of the initial steps they can take is to do some basic measurements or mapping exercises, if they haven’t already done so. A lot of the sector may be aware how much food waste their contractors takes away over a certain period, but they might not understand how that actually maps onto to the production process of their products, or at what stage the majority of waste is being generated.

Similarly, a business needs to work out the full cost of their waste, which requires more than just looking at disposal charges – they need to build a realistic view of the types of food waste involved. Some of it may be the inedible parts that get discarded from a process, but a large proportion of it can be high quality and expensive ingredients not used in time, or a production error that causes a product to be unsaleable; the cost of food waste is always much more than the actual disposal cost.

It’s also important to recognize that the businesses that are most effective at addressing sustainability and resource efficiency issues are ones who don’t just include it as an add-on function or role. It’s difficult for businesses to tackle food waste in any systematic way if they haven’t put in the staff resource to do so.

Why do you think food and beverage businesses might not have done this already?

A lot of businesses are reluctant to marshal their own information gathering around the cost of food waste due to an overarching emphasis on order fulfillment. Customers can be very demanding in their expectations, so food and drink manufacturers, especially ones that take a batch approach to production, can often end up doing fairly inefficient things in order to keep their retail market happy.

It isn’t simply the businesses themselves who are the cause, as many commercial drivers keep the focus off food waste and more on order fulfillment, meaning they might not actually have the KPIs to really focus on the issue. This isn’t going to change until there’s more of a partnership and whole supply chain view of food waste. Many end market users are unaware that changes, cancellations and modifications to an order can result in food waste at various stages of the supply chain, as it comes at no cost to them.

Do you have any advice for tackling food waste in our own homes (and what do you do yourself)?

I can’t consider food waste at home without first thinking about what I eat and whether or not it’s healthy and good food. As a type 1 diabetic I have a tricky relationship with food – probably not typical of the average UK diet: portion control is a necessity, as is eating less highly processed carbohydrates. So having food waste prevention as the overriding priority is largely unrealistic, for me it’s really about being more conscious of food habits and choices. For example, in buying more ‘in season’ locally grown root vegetables, there is inevitably more food waste at home (but less further back in the supply chain). A lot therefore depends on the type of waste we produce at home, because some of it is “good” food waste, such as the inedible components and trimmings, which is what my compost bin loves.

The future will certainly involve looking at our attitudes towards food ‘in the round’, and tackle these issues together, as having single-issue campaigns won’t be as effective. There’s a new European funded project about to start in London that aims to look at the crossovers between food waste, healthy-eating and lifestyle, which I think is a real step forward – encouraging constructive interaction, and getting people engaged in terms of what they eat and how they value food. With this we can further tackle problems associated with poor diets, as well as food waste, and pave the way towards healthier eating, and more sustainable supply chains.

What’s an example of food waste legislation or regulation in another country you would like to see implemented in the UK?

We don’t have to look that far field for an example within the UK. Scotland has implemented a food waste reduction target, and interestingly, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals. It would be great to see this approach more widely adopted, including in England, and there isn’t any reason why this shouldn’t happen, particularly with some of the work we already have in play such as WRAP’s ‘Love Food Hate Waste’. It’s important to keep the momentum going, and setting a formal target would definitely have that effect, as you can’t really have progress without some sort of target or direction of travel.

Additionally, I think there needs to be more work on fiscal incentives for companies that participate in food surplus redistribution. I learned the other day there is a tax break for firms that redistribute food surplus, but it isn’t widely publicized. However, having some form of tax break for firms that organize redistribution would be a step towards having policies that are better aligned towards food utilization and away from waste options. This is something which many other countries have begun to do as well, such as the recent French legislation preventing supermarkets from binning edible food; while it’s imperfect in its preliminary stage, the publicity that this measure has received has in itself brought about change.

I’m currently working on a review for the European Commission, as part of a Horizons 2020 project, looking at how a consistent set of food waste policies might work across the EU, and working out where any significant policy gaps might be. This review ranges across key issues such as transparency in food waste reporting by food businesses, policies towards former foodstuffs that could be diverted to animal feed, as well as ways of supporting more effective food redistribution and the reform of date labelling of food products.

Vote for Julian in this year's Resource Hot 100 here!

Dr Julian Parfitt is Resource Policy Advisor & Practice Leader here at Anthesis Group. If you would like to know more about how Julian can help your business tackle the issue of food waste, contact him at Julian.Parfitt@anthesisgroup.com.