As part of Our Food Future's Waste as a Resource workstream, researchers have identified several food waste "hotspots" across the region's food system.
The Mapping Food and Food Waste Flows in Guelph-Wellington for Waste Redirection and Reduction study offers valuable insights that will guide future circular food system strategies and support businesses and organizations to reduce food waste.
In the first phase of the three-stage Food and Food Waste Flow Study, researchers from Dillon Consulting, Metabolic and University of Guelph analysed more than 70 sets of data. The analysis shows that specific food categories, such as fruit losses before manufacturing and losses of cereals at the processing stage, warrant deeper investigation. Storage and packaging also represent an important area of loss for fruits and vegetables, likely due to their vulnerability to damage and shorter shelf life. Focusing on these hotspots will provide more significant overall impact than other points of intervention in the supply chain.
Download the full Food Waste Flow Study Report here
Watch this video to learn more about the findings and for a walkthrough of the Sankey diagram.
