Amid the growing awareness of the issues that create food waste and the problems that arise from this issue, more people are getting concerned. Some, meanwhile, are making a profit out of food wastes.
According to Markets and Markets , the food waste management industry is slated to become a $42.37 billion business by 2022—the end result of climbing about six percent annually starting in 2017 when the sector hit $31.71 billion that year.
Markets and Markets attributed this growth to the increasing amount of food waste all over the world and more organic feeds and fertilizers being used by farmers.
As a result of the growing concern about global food waste, here are some trends that will not only address the said issue but also drive up the market:
- Food waste bans
According to Rubicon in 2017, implementation of food waste bans is one of the trends to watch out for this year. In the U.S., where $218 billion worth of food waste was accrued in 2015, more and more states such as California and Massachusetts have prohibited food wastes.
Meanwhile, in Europe, France took the ban to the nationwide level in 2016, becoming the first country to implement the regulation on supermarkets.
- Giving to the hungry
Several organizations are taking it upon themselves to undertake this world-changing task, per Waste360. One example is the Food Waste Reduction Alliance , established through the combined efforts of the National Restaurant Association, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and the Food Marketing Institute. One of its goals is to prevent more edible food from piling up in landfills. So to deal with such issue, the organization is giving unconsumed food to those who need it more.
In relation to the first trend, under its 2016 food waste ban, The Guardian reported that same year that France required supermarkets to donate unsold food to food banks and charities instead of discarding them.
- Culinary engagement in food waste management
In Abu Dhabi, an initiative called #FoodNotTrash has been making rounds since May 2017. The efforts aim to promote awareness of effective food storage practices, well-planned and responsible shopping, and reusing excess food.
One that met the emirate’s standards is The Cove Rotana, a resort in Ras Al Khaimah. The emirate’s Waste Management Agency hailed the resort for adopting “the highest standards of daily waste segregation,” according to The National.
Among the property’s good practices is applying color coding in trash bins to separate recyclables and organic trash. The hotel also invested in a technology that allows the conversion of food waste to compost, which in turn serves as a nurturing component in the soil to help plants thrive.
- New technological solutions
In the Waste360 article, it was stated that the advent of technology has allowed several sectors to maximize their potentials. This is the same for the food waste management sector, which became a growing market as of late.
Today, companies are racing to develop various types of machines that can recycle food waste at the lowest energy consumption at the most inexpensive operating cost while exerting all means to bring innovation in the industry.
All these factors can be applied to the waste-to-energy technology that is developed by Greenbelt Resources Corp. (OTCMKTS:GRCO). Situated in Paso Robles, California, the company has even exceeded what makes for a lucrative technology, bringing sustainability and eco-friendliness in the features of its proprietary interconnected “ECOsystem” technology as deployed in Paso Robles ECOsystem or PRECO.
The system utilizes a wide variety of food, beverage and agricultural industry wastes as feedstocks to convert them into bioproducts such as bioethanol and protein. The output that yields from this process surprisingly results in many gallons of bioethanol per ton of waste.
ECOsystem was initially designed to service small- to medium-sized operations such as agricultural and beverage processors. However, the world does not fail to recognize world-class quality. Gradually, with the increase of international clients, the firm became renowned globally as a viable solution to food waste.
In fact, GRCO’s first sale transactions were consummated with the University of Florida and with an agribusiness in New South Wales, Australia. Both institutions respectively bought the firm’s waste-to-energy system in 2012 and 2013.
Last year, the company inked a pact with a real estate developer from Indonesia named PT Jababeka Tbk. The deal gives way to a waste-to-bioproducts project to be launched in Jababeka in a bid to manage the city’s food waste problems, which have spiraled into uncontrollable levels through the years.
As local governments and the private sector continue their efforts in reducing food waste, the sector is expected to witness other emerging trends in the future. While some of the aforementioned trends cannot be considered new to the food waste management sector, they are nevertheless key factors recognized as drivers of the industry whose growth is seen moving at a rapid pace.
