Recycling Food Waste – How to contribute to the solution?

What happens on earth in terms of disasters and environmental imbalances is because of you.
Yes, you!

Every person on the earth is responsible for its environmental imbalance and a sure cause of the global warming project, but how? – With every daily meal you waste many food products and turn them into waste! On every visit to hotels or restaurants, you waste food without any thought about what your actions can lead to!

How can this be reversed?
How can you be the solution?

In most restaurants and hotels, large amounts of food are packed up after being ruled unfit for human consumption. When added to leftovers that cannot be cooked or eaten, we end up with a pile of waste that usually ends up in the landfill.
Given the above, it was necessary to think about re-utilizing these large quantities, recycling them, and protecting the environment through accumulated waste.

How can this be done?

By coordinating with restaurants and hotels, collecting large quantities of food, and classifying them according to their intended use:
1- Waste valid for human re-use and distribution to those in need
2- Waste not suitable for human use and therefore it can be utilized as follows:
–   As an organic fertilizer for plants by converting it into compost or converting it into vermicomposting, which is a successful method that converts food into compost through earthworms. This compost usually has a good marketing price and can give additional income.
–   As fodder, in light of the high prices that affected the feed market, and thus providing animal products at the lowest prices.
-  The reaction that results from the fermentation of waste as it is turned into compost produces methane gas. The latter is one of the most important gases that are useful in energy production and utilized to produce electric power.

Advantages of food waste recycling for society

1-  Appreciating the blessings and reducing the waste of food
2-  Providing food suitable for human consumption to those in need
3-  Rationalizing food consumption and preserving food resources
4-  Creating job opportunities through the emergence of food waste processing companies
5-  Clearing houses and hotels of leftovers and not squandering them in random ways

Advantages of food waste recycling on the environment
1-  Using food waste to manufacture fertilizers reduces chemicals, activates the role of organic fertilizers, and reduces environmental pollution
2-  Cutting waste its odors prevents the spread of vector insects that transmit diseases
3-  Reducing the apperance of homeless animals near landfills
4-  Reducing the use of chemicals and protecting the environment from emissions, in addition to preserving the ozone layer, thus reducing global warming.

Advantages of recycling on the agricultural sector:

1-  Control the indiscriminate use of cultivated resources and limit their waste

2-  Solving the problem of high fodder prices and its availability, and producing  desirable types such as silage

3-  Availability of organic fertilizers, thus fertilizing the soil and ensuring good plant growth

4-  Encouraging clean crops free of chemicals and thus reducing the resulting diseases

5-  Preserving the types of insects that perform an important function for plants, which is pollination, such as bees

6-  Preserving insect species that act as biological enemies for harmful insects that cause severe crop losses.

The reutilization of food waste and preservation of resources is the responsibility of everyone. From the very beginning of the production chain to its end, we must all act to compensate for lost productions by implementing environmental and agricultural projects that serve this purpose.

Given that agriculture is one of the main economic pillars in countries such as Syria-Lebanon-Egypt-Jordan-Iraq-Algeria-Tunisia… it is our duty to restore economy and limit the losses in productions.

by Eng. Sally Erslan