TOP APPS HELPING TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE

For many, smartphones and apps are the main form of communication with brands and everyday services so why shouldn’t the waste management industry be any different?

he adoption of technology is growing rapidly in waste companies, as the waste industry embraces a more digital approach that support net zero targets. The possibilities are endless. More and more apps are being developed to help consumers manage their waste, particularly when it comes to food waste. waste industry embraces a more digital approach to support net zero targets. The possibilities are endless. More and more apps are being developed to help consumers manage their waste, particularly when it comes to food waste.

In today’s world, food waste is an increasing cause for concern with food waste refering to any food products that are thrown away as opposed to being consumed. The UK is responsible for 9.5 million tonnes of food waste every year. The majority of food waste ends up in a landfill site, contributing significantly to global warming, due to food releasing a large quantity of methane gas as it decomposes.

In today’s world, food waste is an increasing cause for concern with food waste referring to any food products that are thrown away as opposed to being consumed. The UK is responsible for 9.5 million tonnes of food waste every year. The majority of food waste ends up in a landfill site, contributing significantly to global warming, due to food releasing a large quantity of methane gas as it decomposes.

The good news is there are a variety of food waste apps that use different initiatives to help reduce food waste. Here are the top apps currently helping to alleviate the problem:

The good news is there are a variety of food waste apps that use different initiatives to help reduce food waste. Here are the top apps currently helping to alleviate the problem:

No Waste

The NoWaste app looks to prevent household food waste by tracking expiration dates, ensuring food that is due to expire soon is used up before it is forgotten about and thrown away. The NoWaste app allows you to enter your food’s expiration dates, and even notifies you when the food is about to expire, ensuring it is used up before having to be thrown away.

Too Good To Go

The Too Good To Go app believes cutting food waste is one of the most important things we can do to reverse climate change. It works directly with restaurants, cafes and bakeries that list leftover food that would otherwise be thrown away, just because it hasn’t sold in time. Users can then browse listed restaurants in their location to pick up leftover food at a discounted rate.

Registration to the app is free and users can even specify dietary requirements making it suitable for everyone. With a database of over 36,000 restaurants across Europe already signed up with Too Good To Go, including some big names such as Greggs, Costa Coffee, Yo Sushi and more, making sure that food gets eaten and not wasted.

THE UK IS RESPONSIBLE FOR 9.5 MILLION TONNES OF FOOD WASTE EVERY YEAR

Foodcloud

FoodCloud hopes to transform surplus food into opportunities to make the world a kinder place. The app connects supermarkets with charities and community groups, such as homeless shelters and family support services, across the UK and Ireland to donate surplus food to those who need it most. Supermarkets upload a description of their unsold food to the app and a local, linked charity gets a notification that food can be collected. FoodCloud already has partners from big name brands such as Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Waitrose and more. By 2017, FoodCloud had already enabled 2,528 tonnes of food to be donated to over 1,100 charities in the UK and Ireland.

Olio

Founded in 2015, Olio connects neighbours and encourages them to pass around food that is not needed and therefore would have to be thrown away. This includes food nearing its use-by date, spare vegetables or leftover food in your fridge that would become out of date when you go on holiday. Users simply snap a photo of their leftover food and see if any neighbours would like the items instead. Neighbours can even receive customised alerts and can request anything they need, with pick-up arranged via private messaging.

Kitche

Kitche is an ideal app to not only help prevent food waste, but also to assist users with ways to use leftovers, as well as giving dinner ideas. Co-founder Alex Vlassopulos designed the app based on how he manages his own kitchen – by planning meals based on what needs eating first.

The free app allows users to create meals and use up leftover ingredients by filtering and selecting ingredients that they have left and suggesting recipes that can be made from them. Users can even shop more efficiently by taking a photo of your supermarket receipt and the Kitche app will help keep track of the food you have at home. It ensures you never accidentally purchase something at the store you already have at home.

All these apps offer handy and easy ways to help reduce food waste – whether that be your own household excesses or helping restaurants reduce theirs. These apps provide winwin solutions to many as it saves money and resources, helps feed the hungry, and is much better for the environment.