CANADA – Food industry players including Kraft Heinz, Loblaw Companies Ltd, Maple Leaf Foods, Metro Inc, Save-On-Foods, Sobeys Inc, Unilever and Walmart have pledged to tackle food waste in Canada.
The eight leading Canadian companies have committed to take measurable action to prevent and reduce food waste in their own operations by 50% by 2025.
Through a close collaboration with the National Zero Waste Council (NZWC) and Provision Coalition, the companies endeavor to check food loss and waste, which has threatened food security around the globe.
The companies will measure individual progress using the globally recognized Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard and will each report on their progress annually.
On the other hand, National Zero Waste Council and Provision Coalition will provide leadership and resources on food loss and waste through knowledge sharing, research and innovation.
“Food loss and waste present social, environment and economic challenges for communities, governments and businesses across the country.
These challenges demand bold, collaborative action,” said Malcolm Brodie, Chair, National Zero Waste Council.
“Though many food waste reduction activities are already underway, they are mostly happening in isolation from each other.
We can achieve far greater success through collaboration and a unified vision for change such as that being demonstrated today by Canada’s leading retailers and manufacturers.
We are pleased to be supporting these industry leaders and look forward to working with them to accelerate real change to reduce food loss and waste.”
‘A Food Loss and Waste Strategy for Canada’ is an initiative by NZWC recommending a coordinated national effort to halve per capita food waste by 2030.
58% of food produced and distributed in Canada is wasted annually, 32% of which is avoidable, according to NZWC.
The avoidable waste costs approximately $49.5 billion each year, reducing supply of food and contributing to climate change.
Significant actions in reducing food waste include diverting surplus food to those in need, or reusing food that isn’t appropriate for human consumption as livestock feed, compost, or alternative energy.
