Wegmans looks to cut food waste with new state regulations in the works
- Wegmans among retailers committing to cut food waste in half by 2030.
- Food waste is increasingly in the crosshairs of lawmakers looking to cut methane emissions and increase food donations.
- Rochester Institute of Technology received $1 million grant to examine ways to keep food out of landfills.
Corrections and clarifications: Foodlink's executive director was misidentified in a previous version of this story. She is Julia Tedesco.
Some local grocers and national retailers are taking a harder look at what’s in their trash to increase the bottom line by diverting food from landfills and to those most needing it.
Wegmans Food Markets joined an effort late last year with several businesses and the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture to cut food waste in half by 2030.
"Food waste has taken a front and center stage because, quite frankly, it's the largest amount of what we are finding in our trash these days," said Jason Wadsworth, a manager of sustainability at Wegmans. "It's also how we can make the most significant change, not only for what's ending up in landfills but for our communities."
He declined to disclose how much Wegmans spends on hauling food waste, but said finding ways to keep items out of the landfill would reduce overhead costs for the Gates-based grocer.
"If we reduce waste, Wegmans doesn't have to pay to send it to a landfill — that is as simple as I can make it," Wadsworth said.
In 2010, roughly 30 percent, or about 133 billion pounds, of all food in the United States went uneaten, according to estimates from the Department of Agriculture. The typical family of four spent an average of roughly $1,500 on food they just throw out.
Some have put those numbers even higher.
"Consumers don’t even realize how much food is wasted," said Callie Babbit, an associate professor of sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology. "We walk into a grocery store and we see these vast aisles of food and it seems like it's a readily available resource."
Forcing the issue?
Food, Babbit said, has become the single largest item in American landfills, amounting on a daily basis to a pile of garbage the size of a 90,000-seat stadium.
Researchers at RIT have received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create a better farm-to-table supply chain to reduce food waste, its environmental impact and create new economic opportunities.
Lawmakers in various parts of the country have already implemented plans to cut down on discarded food, which is widely known to produce methane as it slowly decomposes in landfills.
For instance, Seattle and San Francisco have citywide composting programs. Seattle, New York City, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, California and Connecticut currently ban food scraps from landfills, according to the U.S. Composting Council.
In New York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo first introduced the idea of a landfill ban last year. Implementation of the idea was slowed down for further study.
The governor announced earlier this year in his State of the State address new plans to reduce methane emissions at landfills, suggesting new regulations requiring the largest producers of food waste to divert edible food to food banks, along with other measures.
The legislation would apply to supermarkets, restaurants, colleges, hospitals and others producing more than two tons of waste per week.
"That’s another reason for us to figure this out," Wadsworth said. "States are taking notice of food waste in landfills."
Many grocers have already found ways to reduce food waste by shipping off leftover product to food banks.
Aldi, which operates several Rochester-area stores, donated 17 million pounds of food last year from its American stores. It started a separate effort about five years ago to recycle all of its cardboard, paper, plastic film and foil used in its warehouses.
Tops Friendly Markets also provides donations to churches, food banks and pantries.
Workers there have a tool allowing them to stock products based on sales history, allowing the chain to cut down on inventory, said Tops spokeswoman Kathy Romanowski.
Wegmans said it donated 14.5 million pounds, or 362 tractor-trailers of food, in 2015. It sent roughly 30 million pounds to organic farms for composting or offered food leftovers as feed to area farms such as Natural Upcycling in Batavia.
"Operationally, it doesn't cost us anything to donate food," Wadsworth said.
Noblehurst Green Energy in Livingston County and Synergy Biogas in Wyoming County receive much of the organic waste from the Rochester area.
About one-fourth of the roughly 21 million pounds of food donated to Foodlink are from Wegmans’ stores, said Julia Tedesco, executive director of the Rochester-area food bank.
"If we didn't take it would absolutely go to waste that would just be dumped," Tedesco said.
Wegmans also piloted a new Zero Waste program last year at its Canandaigua store to further reduce all kinds of waste, increase recycling efforts and develop new programs where possible.
The program allows the grocer to increase the store's recycling rate from 63 percent in 2015 to 80 percent by the end of 2016. As a result, it was able to:
- Increase food donations by nearly 35 percent, or 45,000 meals;
- Increase composting efforts by about 70 percent; and
- Decrease overall waste by nearly 33 percent or 20 trash compactors.
Wegmans plans to roll out the program to nine stores later this year.
A big part of reducing food waste also comes down to consumers, who can save money by implementing a couple of strategies.
Babbit said households should look at the items they typically discard and consider buying less. Planning meals for the week and creating a shopping list are other ways to help cut waste.
"You can dedicate one meal per week to simply use up what you already have before shopping again," she said. "Soup, stir-fry and salad are all good options to combine a lot of ingredients into a simple meal."
Properly storing or preserving food through canning, freezing and other techniques can increase shelf life. Households can also start their own at-home composting efforts, or join a larger effort.
"Some amount of food waste is unavoidable, but it can be turned back into a natural resource by composting instead of throwing it into the landfill," she said. "Small-scale household composting systems are relatively easy to make and maintain."
Wegmans is among five grocers committed to reducing food waste 50 percent by 2030 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the EPA. Walmart, which has announced plans to eliminate its food waste by 2025, was the only other grocer in the program that has local operations.
PepsiCo., General Mills, the Kellogg Co. and the Campbell Soup Co. were other notable firms joining the challenge, announced under the Obama administration.
Wegmans has not been informed of any changes to the program under the Trump administration, but it is awaiting a little more direction from federal agencies.
For instance, how should Wegmans measure its food waste? How will reducing food waste impact to the bottom line? Will more get recycled? What hand will emerging technology play?
"We really haven't dug into it that far," Wadsworth said. "They didn't put a boundary around it or a framework. We are just getting started.
"I don’t think 2030 is the end of the discussion either."
Food waste: By the numbers
Percentage of all uneaten food
133 billion pounds
Weight of food discarded
Average annual cost of wasted food per household.
Source: Department of Agriculture, 2010.
Tips for consumers
Callie Babbit, an associate professor of sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology, provided the following steps households can take to reduce food waste.
Take note: Take an inventory of the items at home before shopping to avoid buying duplicates.
Plan: Sketch out meals before shopping and identify recipes that use multiple ingredients. For example, saute’ vegetables one day and then use the leftovers to make a broth or stock.
Buy local: In-season produce tends to stay fresher longer. Farmer’s markets and the Good Food Collective are other ways to get food from area farms.
Cooking for the cupboard: Dedicate one meal per week to use what's already in the kitchen. Stir-fry, soups and salads might be good options.
Smart-sized: Try using smaller plates, glasses and serving dishes. It helps to avoid over-eating while leading to fewer unwanted leftovers.
Storage: Learn more about the proper storage and ways food can preserved. Label and date frozen and refrigerated leftovers.
Compost: Turn unwanted food into compost either at home or elsewhere. Visit CommunityComposting.org for more information.