To address the interplay between climate change and food waste, the Canadian region of Guelph-Wellington has launched two initiatives to establish circularity in the overall system. Through diverse initiatives such as transforming food waste into valuable resources, recycling, banning the burial of organic waste, and enhancing collaboration for effective management.
The relationship between climate change and food waste is one that is characterized by interdependence, meaning that the two areas influence each other. Wasting food means wasting the resources used in its production, leaving it to decompose, releasing methane gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, accelerating climate change. Estimates suggest that at least 21% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the food system. In other words, the world faces the consequences of food waste, not just as a moral dilemma, especially given the spread of hunger in some countries but also as an issue related to protecting the planet as a whole.
In Canada, for example, the year 2022 witnessed an increase of 11% in the cost of groceries, and it is anticipated that the year 2023 will bring another increase of approximately 7%, according to a report on food prices. It also seems that Canadians waste 60% of their food annually, with 32% of it being avoidable, such as rotten fruit and stale bread, while the rest, like eggshells and vegetable scraps, cannot be avoided. Financially, this translates into a loss of $49 billion across the value chain.
What comes next? It is evident that there is a significant flaw in this system, and it is far from the sustainability that the Canadian government aspires to in various aspects of life, inspiring several pioneering experiments.
The first of these experiments took place in southern Ontario, in the Guelph-Wellington region, which has a population of 223,000, with approximately 60% living in urban areas. Nevertheless, its predominant character is rural, and its residents are connected to agriculture, producing corn, wheat, soybeans, beef, and poultry.
Due to their interest in the environment and reducing aspects of inequality, The Smart Cities Office in the City of Guelph and the County of Wellington developed a regional circular food system focusing on two main initiatives. The first is called "Our Food Future," funded by Infrastructure Canada, adopting the food recovery hierarchy model from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The initiative aims to increase access to nutritious foods by 50%, provide them at an affordable cost, support companies producing circular foods, redefine waste as a resource, launch 50 new projects, and increase circular economic benefits by 50% through unlocking the value of waste.
The initiative began by analyzing the food reality and material flow through three stages. The first involved data collection and study, followed by working with stakeholders to develop a roadmap and identify optimal steps to reach the third stage and test three new ideas. For example, the initiative's team found that the increase in organic food waste was due to inadequate storage and packaging in the early stages of the food system. Additionally, industrial and commercial institutions were found to waste 75% of their food purchases.
Based on this information and more, the office designed interventions for the first initiative and activities for the second initiative, called the Circular Opportunity Innovation Launchpad (COIL). It relied on funding from the federal agency for economic development in southern Ontario, serving as an incubator, marketer, and financial supporter for businesses adopting and developing circular models.
Among the activities, two programs were launched to capture waste generated from food processing and recycle it. For instance, converting waste from one factory into products for another, such as tofu by-products used in pasta production, or onion remnants transformed into concentrated flavorings.
All interventions focused on integrating partners from local authorities, government entities, experts, non-profit organizations, and the private sector. The team worked to measure the impact of their interventions by monitoring the recovered value from edible foods, the total transformed organic waste, the reduction in environmental footprint, and the added economic value.
Canadian policymakers played a crucial role in these efforts. Since the ban on burying organic waste in the 1990s, Ontario has been committed to regulating waste and finding alternative uses, such as fertilization, and developing new materials like bio-based plastics made from renewable resources.
To implement these steps, a supportive infrastructure is essential. Each company needs to independently contract waste carriers, making organic waste management burdensome and costly. To overcome this challenge, the Circular Innovation Council launched a regional cooperative system for organic waste collection, with costs shared to avoid burdening any party.
Another challenge is the lack of a reliable method for exchanging food waste data, as it is easier to recycle waste near its source. Only companies and the federal government possess this data, necessitating a unified data platform for information sharing.
In 2021, 45 organizations participated in the pilot program, converting over 318 tons of organic waste, saving 413 tons of CO2 emissions. Additionally, companies managed to preserve 38,000 meals in 2022.
Beyond waste reduction and improving food security, the Guelph-Wellington experiment aims to generate social value, enhance business growth, and establish a circular concept across all economic sectors. It asserts that waste is simply a material that has not been reassessed yet.
These behaviors can reduce the carbon footprint of the food system, paving the way for a more sustainable and resilient future in the face of climate change.
References:
- https://guelph.ca/wp-content/uploads/SmartCities_Booklet.pdf
- https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2023/food-waste-circular-system/
- https://www.fsds-sfdd.ca/en/goals/responsible-consumption-and-production
- https://greenmunicipalfund.ca/case-studies/case-study-how-guelph-wellington-building-sustainable-food-future
- https://www.dal.ca/sites/agri-food.html
- https://foodfuture.ca/
- https://coil.eco/
- https://foodfuture.ca/foodflowstudy
