Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Although there are varied methods for dealing with different types of discarded
material, the problem of food waste is of particular importance. It is astonishing to
realize that most developed countries throw away a quarter to a third of the food
produced, either by firms discarding products in stores that are past some defined
sell-by date, producers getting rid of small or misshapen products, or by consumers
discarding left-over food from meals. In the U.S.A. the Environmental Protection
Agency reported that 36 million t of food is thrown away, which is over 200 lbs
(91 kg) per person year. This constitutes the largest share (21 %) of the waste go-
ing to municipal landfills. Indeed only 2 % of this waste is currently composted,
compared to the 62 % of paper that is recycled, so there is a great opportunity to
reduce or reuse this material (EPA
2013
). In 2012 New York's mayor persuaded
many restaurants to put their food waste in separate containers which will be col-
lected and sent to a biogas producing plant, a scheme that is intended to become
compulsory later. A similar proportion of food produced is lost in underdeveloped
countries such as India, this time before it reaches the consumer—either eaten by
pests because of the absence of adequate biological control, or spoilt because of
limited transportation and refrigeration capacities—a severe problem in a country
where millions still go hungry. So ways of reducing this waste are needed. Better
ways of storing and transporting food in the developing countries would be of im-
mense benefit in reducing food waste in areas where some people do not get enough
food. In developed countries there have been moves to reduce the amount of food
waste at its source, such as using fruit or other products that might be misshapen,
off-colour or small size, or finding ways of using the by-products of food process-
ing. In addition, the American Grocery Manufacturers Association, in conjunction
with other agencies, announced plans in 2013 to tackle the problem, such as better
stock control, and in cases where some food may be near its sell-by date by send-
ing more of this so-called waste to food banks for use by the poor, rather than just
dumping it. They estimate that 10 million out of the 50 million American people
who suffer from irregular food supplies could be fed from this source, if only a fifth
of the current food waste was diverted to them (Walsh
2011
). In Britain there have
been similar suggestions and also to get retailers to be flexible in 'best-before' dates
for food, and to reduce the number of cost reductions for buying double or triple
amounts of food portions, which often get wasted rather than used. These examples
can be expanded by more detailed studies of what amounts to more sustainable food
systems (Marsden and Morley
2014
)
A second approach is by
re-cycling
or treating waste in some way so that the
material can be used for other purposes. Not all of these re-cycling policies are new.
For example, in terms of re-cycling one of the most successful policies involved the
creation of separate returnable beer bottle depots in Canada as far back as the 1930s
after the brewers agreed on a standard bottle size. A small deposit price was added
to the retail price which was given back to consumers who returned the bottles to the
depots; the current rebate is ten cents a bottle. This re-cycling was implemented as a
way of reducing the costs of creating new bottles for each beer. Today 97 % of beer
bottles are recycled and the typical bottle is used 15-20 times before being broken
down and made into a new one. It has been estimated that when the bottle recycling
