Sustainability and technology drive efforts to reduce food waste

Efforts to enhance resource conservation and sustainability are gaining momentum through technological innovation and improved preservation methods. In the professional gastronomy sector, digital solutions are being deployed to combat significant food waste. The German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) estimates that German gastronomy produces approximately 2 million tons of food waste annually, prompting the European Union to set a goal of reducing these losses by one-third by 2030.

Practical applications of technology include the use of artificial intelligence at Le Meridien München, where a system by Kitro utilizes cameras and precision scales to analyze waste. This implementation reportedly saved 48.97 tons of food over three years. Additionally, researchers at ETH Zürich have developed a biological method using microbes to convert food waste into a process that binds 97 milligrams of CO2 per gram of waste.

Broad sustainability strategies emphasize reducing the demand for new raw materials, extending the lifespan of products and infrastructure, and ensuring high-quality reuse of unavoidable residues. Effective resource conservation requires a lifecycle perspective, considering environmental impacts from extraction through to end-of-life usage.