Sustainability
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Waste management

Last miles to zero waste: Packaged food waste recycling

Food companies generate packaged waste, but what are the options for dealing with it?

Wayne Labs, Senior Contributing Technical Editor

April 9, 2019

You try to be sustainable and not generate food waste. But at times, you can’t avoid the problem of having packaged food go bad before it gets out of your plant or the warehouse—or maybe it’s recalled for a labeling error, and it’s now expired. What to do? I asked Ray Hatch, CEO of Quest Resource Holding, who’s had extensive experience in food service industries and waste management to talk about the options, which, unfortunately, are not many.

Sustainability

The challenges facing supermarkets of the future

As population grows and efficiency becomes more critical, supermarkets face unique challenges

Bjorn Thumas

April 9, 2019

Supermarkets of the near future will have their business models radically re-shaped by innovations instore, online, and in the food industry supply chain. These technologies will be deployed in the battle for customers but, more than this, can also benefit the planet.

Natural Grocers eliminates over 300 million single-use plastic bags

Since Earth Day 2009, Natural Grocers has led the fight to reduce single-use plastic bags and end food insecurity in the communities they serve.

April 2, 2019

Natural Grocers, Denver, Colo., eliminated more than 300 million single-use plastic bags across all 152 stores.

Green Series

A sustainable bottom line: Environmentally friendly upgrades must save money

Rose Shilling

March 22, 2019

Food processors and distributors and pet food manufacturers view sustainable projects as a great idea—if they save money.

Packaging

How it's made: recycled fiber in Starbucks cups

Rose Shilling

March 20, 2019

Figuring out how to recycle paper into a reusable fiber that is FDA approved to touch food wasn't easy.

Nestle co-founds Future Food Initiative to advance science related to food trends, sustainability

The Future Food Initiative brings together Swiss academic and industrial partners leading in nutritional science and food technology.

February 4, 2019

Nestlé USA, Arlington, Va., launched the Future Food Initiative, a joint research program between Swiss universities and industrial partners that will support Nestlé in the development of trend-based, nutritious and sustainable food and beverage products.

Green Series

Balancing Capital Investment with Long-Term Sustainability Goals

Casey Laughman

January 14, 2019

When processors make major capital investments, a lot of questions have to be answered.

Editor's Note

New ways food processors can be green

Casey Laughman

December 12, 2018

Sustainability is a goal we all want to pursue, but we're constrained in how we can pursue it. And if you've already done all the easy stuff, then suddenly you're faced with a big challenge when it comes to squeezing more energy or water savings out of your operations.

Fabulous Food Plants

Hispanic Cheese Makers' fabulous food plant sets the bar for reducing waste

Hispanic Cheese Makers’ wastewater lagoons are a big project, but a small part of the company’s overall sustainability goal

Casey Laughman

December 12, 2018

What Hispanic Cheese Makers is doing with its wastewater and with its sustainability efforts overall makes it a model for producers looking for ways to be sustainable and good neighbors, and it’s why Hispanic Cheese Makers is being featured as a Fabulous Food Plant.

Packaging

Nestlé Waters sets goal of 25 percent rPET in three years

Increasing recycled plastic packaging is part of broader sustainability plan to reuse water bottles in a circular economy

Rose Shilling

December 10, 2018

Nestlé Waters North America will use 25 percent recycled plastic for packaging in U.S. products by 2021, trying to increase its role in addressing the country’s recycling challenges.

On Demand Driven by climate goals, business risk, client interest, and resilience considerations, food and beverage companies are increasingly turning their attention to decarbonizing their production processes.

Driven by climate goals, business risk, client interest, and resilience considerations, food and beverage companies are increasingly turning their attention to decarbonizing their production processes.