Businesses Tackling Waste
As a Cambridge food business you can play a key role in shaping a food system that is good for people and our planet. Addressing food waste is vital to help tackle the climate emergency, due to the large carbon footprint behind wasted food. The UK hospitality industry can make a big impact; one million tonnes of food is wasted every year, three quarters of which is still edible, costing £2.5 billion, wasting natural resources and feeding climate change.
Reducing reliance on single use packaging and improving recycling can also make a big difference to your business's impact on the natural environment and help conserve limited natural resources .
By establishing effective waste management strategies and addressing packaging use, your business can take a big step in reducing your impact on the environment while supporting the local community at the same time. Explore some actions you could take below.
Actions your bUSINESS could take:
Take action on food waste, by establishing a food waste policy and providing education and signalling of food waste reduction to employees.
Support the local community and prevent food waste by redistributing your surplus food. As a local food business you can express your interest in donating surplus to a community food hub through this form.
Become a water refill point in Cambridge
Manage your waste. Ditch single-use packaging, dispose of unavoidable food waste correctly, recycle correctly, and take part in a local collection scheme.
Communicate policies and business aims with your staff and provide up-to-date training, to ensure sustainability throughout the business.
Cambridge Sustainable Food Resources
Get clued up - understand the impact food choices have on climate change and discover how food waste is contributing to the climate crisis. Discover tips on waste reduction for your food business here, and understand the importance of following the food waste heirarchy; a guide to managing food waste to benefit your business, the environment and the local community.
Measure and take action on your businesses food waste, including creating a food waste action plan, and adopting a Food Waste Policy.
Overview booklet of tackling food waste as a business in Cambridge, part of our previous Taste Not Waste campaign.
Discover how to recycle your unavoidable food waste in Cambridge here. Cambridge Food Hub also provides collection of schemes for old coffee grounds and crisp packets.
Explore our Environmental Advice for Food Businesses page for further advice covering food waste reduction, recycling in Cambridge, reducing packaging use, saving water and energy, keeping it local and how to communicate sustainability with your staff.
We provide a guidance service on all aspects of sustainability, find out more.
Food Waste Case Study
Cambridge Cookery took part in our Taste Not Waste programme and as a result became the city’s first zero-food waste café. Explore how this was achieved here.
