How our food waste contributes to the climate crisis

How our food waste contributes to the climate crisis

When speaking about the environment, climate change, and global warming due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is usually a topic at the top of the list. It is very quick to blame the coal and oil industries for GHG emissions and a deteriorating air quality, however, something that is slightly less considered is the contribution that our food has towards global warming and climate change. Here are the two main ways our food contributes to the climate crisis:1. Food waste: food waste contributes 10% to the global GHG emissions count. Unfortunately, food waste that is at landfill decomposes to release carbon dioxide and methane; two of the most prominently GHG that contribute to global warming

2. Transportation: the emission contribution from transportation is twofold; firstly from ‘farm to fork’ and then to waste. This especially becomes significant where food waste from supermarkets and restaurants that are produced in large volumes are transported to disposal sites, most commonly landfill. This makes the carbon footprint of the retail and hospitality sector quite large.

BiobiN South Africa uses an on-site food waste containment and composting unit that cuts out the needs to transport food waste to disposal sites. Instead of decomposing in landfill and contributing to GHG emission, food waste inside a BiobiN is converted to lovely rich compost that adds value to the environment.

Source: https://www.iberdrola.com/environment/food-waste

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