5 minute read
How pest control can contribute to sustainability in the food sector
After more than a year of economic and social upheaval caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, the world is at a crossroads.
Addressing the One Planet summit in Paris in January 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “In the year 2021, we must reconcile humanity with nature. Until now we have been destroying our planet. … We have been poisoning air, land and water and filling oceans with plastics. Now nature is fighting back.”
This focus is seen as a chance to put new energy into the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by all member states in 2015 and is centred on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There are now just ten years left to achieve these goals and the UN has called for a decade of action, including a drive for sustainable innovation, financial investments and technology.
The pandemic has forced people to adapt to new ways of working and living, and it has made more people realise that we cannot go on treating the planet the same way. The UN Secretary-General added, “As we rebuild, we cannot revert to the old normal. Pandemic recovery is our chance to change course. … Every country, city and business must adopt an ambitious roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.”
FOOD SYSTEMS: AN ESSENTIAL PART OF SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable food systems are an essential part of many of the SDGs because they impact numerous areas, including nutrition and health, poverty reduction, water security, sustainable energy, CO2 emissions and climate change.
Every year, about 14% of the world’s food is lost to pests and spoilage before it reaches the consumer (food loss) – valued at around $400 billion per year. On top of that staggering amount is food waste, caused by the inefficient handling and use of food. Together, food loss and food waste generate 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which amounts to 1.5 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent every year.
And that was in a “normal” year. Food supply chains have been disrupted by restriction of movement and Coronavirus quarantine measures, causing increased losses, especially of perishable food products.
Buying habits have also changed by both consumers and countries, so as to build stockpiles of non-perishable food, which causes more waste of other food. Measures that many countries have been taking to reduce food loss and waste have been put at risk.
In September 2020 the UN launched the first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Food Waste, organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The aim is to urge everyone to do more to reduce food loss and waste to protect food security and the environment.
There are multiple ways that food businesses can contribute to sustainability, including reducing food loss and waste, lessening their impact on the environment and lowering carbon emissions in all areas of their operations.
Integrated pest management is a triedand-trusted technique to help prevent food losses caused by pests at all stages of the supply chain - in an environmentally sustainable way. When combined with environmental policies that extend to all products used, operations and services, pest control can contribute to every food business’s sustainability commitments.
Pest control is one of the key factors in preventing food losses throughout the food supply chain. As mentioned previously, food losses are a significant contribution to CO2 emissions and are a major target in the UN’s sustainable development goals.
There are multiple areas in pest control that can contribute to sustainability, both in the focus across the whole business – such as reducing energy use in buildings and transport, minimising waste, using sustainable products – and in the
specific pest control solutions available to customers.
Integrated pest management (IPM) is the foundation of sustainable pest control, focusing on prevention and smart solutions to deter infestations occurring and avoiding the use of toxic chemicals. IPM saves costs, uses fewer resources – including energy and plastic – and is safer for the environment.
7 SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE FOOD SAFETY
A wide range of non-toxic pest control solutions are available so that companies can make environmentally friendly pest control a part of their sustainability policies. These products and solutions include the following: 1. Heat treatments to eliminate pests in whole rooms down to individual small items 2. LED insect light traps that safely capture insects in critical areas more efficiently and use less energy 3. Intelligent traps that capture and dispatch mice humanely and safely in
food environments 4. Fluorescent tracking gel to effectively identify where rodents are present, and then apply more targeted control measures 5. Proofing technology to prevent rodents gaining access to buildings, including products to fill gaps (e.g: around dock levellers and expansion joints) 6. Biopesticides such as a fungus to control cockroaches, and bacteria and sterile insect release to control mosquitoes 7. Digital technology which provide remote monitoring, rapid alerts of pest presence, capture of vast amounts of data on pest behaviour to provide new insights, and identification of pest hotspots to enable more targeted and effective pest control, which is especially important for food pests such as stored product insects (SPI).
WHAT IS NET ZERO?
The UN Secretary General has called for businesses to adopt a sustainability agenda, including the net zero target for carbon emissions. Net zero refers to achieving an overall balance of CO2 emissions into and out of the atmosphere.
Under the legally binding Paris Agreement, 196 countries and territories agreed to limit global warming to below 2°C and, ideally, 1.5°C by 2050 to reduce the devastating effects on the environment as much as possible. Rentokil Initial has committed to reduce total carbon emissions to net zero by the end of 2040 – ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement targets.
Governments, the public, analysts and investors are increasingly expecting businesses to show they are taking sustainability seriously. By partnering with a pest control company with a comprehensive sustainability plan, food businesses can be assured that their pest control operations contribute to the sustainable development goals both by reducing food losses and protecting the environment. •
Rentokil – www.rentokil.co.za
