1.
Impactful and
Measurable Progress
on CSA
in Corporate Value
Chains
Workshop
27-28 March 2018 Smarter Metrics Workshop | Burlington 1
OVERVIEW OF LOSS AND WASTE
Kai Robertson,
Lead Advisor, FLW Protocol
WRI
Day 2 | 28 March 2018
Morning

2.
Understand the Issue
What Is
Food
Loss and
Waste?
Why
Does It
Matter?
How
Much Is
There?
What
Can We
Do About
It?
www.furtherwithfood.org

3.
At its most basic:
Food not eaten by people (for whatever reason)
Spoilage Plate waste Inedible parts?
What is
“food loss and waste”?

4.
Production
Handling
and Storage
Processing
and
Packaging
Distribution
and Market
Consumption
“Loss and waste” happens along the entire value chain
During or
immediately after
harvesting on the
farm
Examples:
Causes &
Drivers
Left in field during
harvesting
Lack of buyer
*Read more in: Introducing Farm-
Level Loss into the Food Waste
Discussion, NC State University
= Product that doesn’t
leave the farm
May be called:*
• unmarketable
• oversupply
• surplus
• seconds
• culls
• trash
• ugly
Trim
(“Outer leaves”)
Damaged product
(unsaleable)
Excess product
Stalks / Stems
What might this look like (lettuce example)?

5.
Production
Handling
and Storage
Processing
and
Packaging
Distribution
and Market
Consumption
Source: WRI analysis based on FAO. 2011. Global food losses and food waste – extent, causes and prevention. Rome: UN FAO.
“Loss and waste” happens along the entire value chain
During or
immediately after
harvesting on the
farm
After leaving the
farm for handling,
storage, and
transport
During industrial or
domestic
processing and/or
packaging
During distribution
to markets,
including at
wholesale and
retail markets
In the home or
business of the
consumer, including
restaurants and
caterers
Examples:
Causes &
Drivers
Left in field during
harvesting
Lack of buyer
Long time between
harvest and
processing
Poor infrastructure
Inefficient
processing
equipment
Gaps in knowledge
Damages during
transit
Poor infrastructure
Over production
Poor forecasting

6.
Source: WRI analysis based on FAO. 2011. Global food losses and food waste—
extent, causes and prevention. Rome: UN FAO.
Percent of kcal lost and wasted, 2009 (numbers may not sum to 100 due to rounding)
How Much Is There?

7.
Why Does It Matter?
Reducing loss and waste
provides a pathway to
social, economic, and
environmental benefits

8.
Globally > 800 million people are food insecure

9.
The true cost of waste is hidden
Visible costs
Invisible costs
Disposal costs
• Lost materials
• Energy costs
• Lost labor
• Water costs
On average, the true
cost of wasted materials
is about ten times the cost
of disposal.
Embedded costs
Source: FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2011. Global food losses and food waste – extent, causes
and prevention. Rome: UN FAO; FAO. 2015. Food wastage footprint & climate change. Rome: UN FAO.

10.
“The thing about land is, they’re not making it anymore.” - Mark Twain

11.
“Embedded resources” – impact varies
www.savethefood.com

12.
If food loss and waste were its own country, it would
be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter

13.
This paper describes the scope of FLW interventions and estimates the extent to
which they reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in diverse systems.
Reducing FLW can contribute to GHG mitigation via two pathways. Reducing losses:
1. Increases efficiency of the food supply chain, resulting in increased efficiency of
GHG emissions per unit of food produced (emission intensity).
How?
Total emissions decline when farmers combine FLW reduction with (a) reducing
emissions in the supply chain through improved practices or technologies (such as
more efficient energy use), or (b) reducing agricultural production, a strategy that is
relevant where farmers are constrained by high input costs (e.g. fertilizer, livestock
feed, electricity) or face limited markets for their products (Kendall, 2000).
2. When FLW decomposes in oxygen-poor conditions, as in a landfill, where
methane emissions are much higher than they would be if food were consumed.
(Decomposition of lost or wasted food releases methane, nitrous oxide, and CO2)
Report considers GHG reductions resulting only from efficiency in the food supply
chain - the first of the two paths.

14.
What Can We Do About It?

15.
http://corporate.mcdonalds.com/content/corpmcd/scale-for-good/our-planet/eliminating-waste.html
McDonald’s Example
Less is more: our food
waste hierarchy
(Adapted from EPA’s Food
Recovery Hierarchy)

16.
TARGET: Targets set ambition,
ambition motivates action

17.
TARGET 12.3
By 2030, halve per capita global food
waste at the retail and consumer
levels and reduce food losses along
production and supply chains,
including post-harvest losses
Targets are being set at national level

18.
Champions 12.3 is a unique coalition of
leaders from around the world
dedicated to inspiring ambition, mobilizing action, and
accelerating progress
toward achieving SDG Target 12.3
In January 2016, “Champions 12.3” Formed to
Advance Progress Toward SDG Target 12.3

19.
Source: SDG TARGET 12.3 ON FOOD LOSS AND WASTE: 2017 PROGRESS REPORT

20.
Food Waste Resolution (2015) Food Loss Resolution (2017)
Prevent and reduce food
waste by 50% within our own
retail and manufacturing
operations by 2025 versus a
2016 baseline
Prevent and reduce food
loss by 50% within our
own operations by 2030
versus a 2018 baseline
Targets are being set by business partnerships

21.
MEASURE: “What gets measured
gets managed”
Photo: www.cgu.edu
• Understand size of opportunity
• Data drives decisions and prioritization
• Ability to track progress

22.
ACT: What ultimately
matters is action

23.
Innovative solutions
(Washington Post, April 2017)
“Edible upcycling”
Spent beer grain
(Regrained bars)