Environmental News

Approximately 14% of the world’s agricultural produce grown is lost after harvest, and a further 17% is
lost within the retail sector before it reaches the consumer. An estimated 3.1 billion people worldwide
do not have access to a healthy diet, and about 828 million people go hungry. This food loss and
waste account for up to 10% of the total global GHGs that contribute to climate change and global
warming.

What does a sustainable future look like? A net-zero carbon footprint, clean air and water, sustainable food sources, and no waste. While this sound like the ideal scenario for a future sustainable city, this is all attainable with the right urban space design, circular waste management systems and collaboration between businesses and citizens to implement this model.

Resource scarcity and shortages are not a new theme for us here in South Africa. While water and energy shortages have rocked our normality and forced us to adjust to challenging circumstances, there is one resource shortage that is less talked about but needs to be bought to the absolutely fore in the public’s attention.

Our soil is one of the greatest carbon sinks, and our organic and food waste is carbon-rich in its
contents. Through composting, we can convert our organic waste and re-introduce it to a soil mass,
completing a natural carbon cycle.

To tackle the food waste issue, we need to ask what causes it in the first place. Is it high food quality standards, poor packaging, produce degradation, or a lack of circularity with food and organic waste? In fact, it can be argued that our food waste extend is a combination of all of these factors.

The foundation for sustainable waste management is ‘separation at source’. Separating different waste types so that they can be individually managed better, whether it be recycled, repurposed or processed into a ‘secondary resource’.

Good compost increases the organic content of a soil body, facilitating beneficial soil microbial growth and, as a result, plant growth. In addition, it increases the water retention of soil and maintains the carbon content, which improves soil fertility.

The minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), Barbara Creecy, recently provided important updates on different waste streams and their reduction and recycling initiatives. One of these updates was an overview on the current progress towards halving food loss and waste by 2030 (SDG 12.3). The main aim is to avoid food waste along production

April 7th is recognised globally as World Health Day drawing our attention to human health and wellbeing. The theme for World Health Day in 2022 is ‘Our Planet, Our Health’ drawing on the link between human health and environmental health. The World Health Organisation, the organising body of World Health Day, has clearly indicated that