Online service from Zero Waste Scotland will help Highland businesses cut waste and costs
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Businesses looking to cut costs and reduce their food waste can take advantage of an improved free online service from Zero Waste Scotland.
They can also apply for free loans to further help them reduce waste and cut costs.
Thanks to funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Scottish Government, Zero Waste Scotland is now able to offer an enhanced online food waste reduction business support service.
Almost 280 businesses have already been supported through the service, with typical cost savings of around £5000 per annum, the organisation says.
Interest free loans ranging from £1000 to £100,000 are available to support firms amending their operations to reduce waste. The service can also point businesses to other potential funding streams.
Iain Clunie, Zero Waste Scotland’s food and drink programme manager, said: “It has never been more important for businesses to cut their costs and make savings where they can, and our Food Waste Reduction Business Support allows them to do just that.
“We can help identify where waste is occurring and ways to tackle this. For instance, we know menu planning and stock control are issues for many during this uncertain time and it is something we can help with.”
The food waste reduction business support is available to firms across Scotland. All areas of a business can be examined, from reducing the volume of fryer oil used and cutting back on plate waste, to improving temperature-controlled storage to keep food fresh for longer.
It is estimated that every 240-litre bin filled with food waste costs around £151 for food purchase and disposal.
The assessment goes beyond just the cost of the collected food waste and also covers raw materials, the staff time used to prepare the food, and the water and energy used in the cooking process.
Perth’s Glendoick Garden Centre is among the businesses which have made significant savings after calling in Zero Waste Scotland's business support experts and food waste reduction consultants.
Café manager Senga Murray said: “Glendoick decided to participate in the Zero Waste Scotland food waste support services, confident we were already doing everything to keep wastage to a minimum.
“After the initial assessment, the follow up meeting guided us through how to record wastage. Where we thought our highest waste area was and where it actually was surprised us. The report highlighted areas of high wastage we were unaware of.
“We were able to implement systems and procedures to reduce our wastage even more..”
Across the businesses supported to date, Zero Waste Scotland estimates having identified potential savings of almost 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of running a fridge for a year for 85,839 homes.
The Scottish Government has a target of reducing food waste, which emits greenhouse gases if it goes to landfill, by a third by 2025.
Last month, Zero Waste Scotland launched its surplus food redistribution service, an online service aimed at rescuing food that would otherwise be wasted during this period of uncertainty due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, by connecting suppliers with surplus produce with organisations that will benefit from it.
To find out how Zero Waste Scotland’s food waste reduction business support can aid your business, please visit www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/FoodDrink/BusinessSupport or email food.drink@zerowastescotland.org.uk
