Waste in the dining area is something we have all experienced, whether it is the edible food we throw in the bin or the plastic packaging used and thrown away everyday.
Only 19% of Food Waste is recycled in Singapore. Taking actions, to reduce our food waste and to better recycle it, can therefore have a positive impact. Moreover, as food waste is visible, it can be a good area for team building and sustainability awareness and trainings.
In this part we provide solutions for companies to reduce waste in the dining area, this includes reducing plastic and cardboard waste as well as food waste.
Install a food analyser to quantify your waste and to better know what type of food and which percentage is wasted. Compare it to the industry average.
It will help you better monitor your stocks.
Talk with your suppliers to take proper action.
To reduce food waste, see our solutions in Food & Beverage category.
8%
of worldwide global GHG emissions come from the food we waste.
(drawdown)
20%
The amount of food waste generated in SG has grown by around 20% over the last 10 years.
(NEA)
LightBlue is an awarded Best Small Business: Good Food for All by the United Nations (among 2,000 applicants) with a vision to reconcile sustainability with business excellence.
They specialize in food waste prevention through capacity building workshops, Food Intel Tech (FIT) — food waste monitoring tech, and Food Waste Prevention program to reduce food waste, cut operational expenses, and move towards zero food waste to landfill and low carbon operations.
Lumitics seeks to accelerate the transformation of kitchens around the world towards more sustainable operations, by empowering them with a tracking and monitoring solution to better manage their food waste.
The PLEDGE is a practical and scalable answer to a widely underestimated issue with dire consequences: Food Waste. In line with the United Nations' SDGs 2, 12 and 13 and designed on first-hand knowledge from F&B sustainability experts and academics, it helps restaurants to drastically reduce Food Waste, cut on cost, boost their image and foster collaboration with complementary food waste solution providers.
It is the ideal scalable solutions for government agencies, international hotel, catering and restaurant groups, willing to better control food waste and associated costs, establish an audited benchmarking system, and identify existing food waste solutions providers at each level of the FW pyramid.
The 3rd party verified certification and benchmarking system is articulated around 7 key pillars that include Policy adoption, Food Waste Monitoring System, Cross Department Responsibilities, Staff Awareness, Procedure Improvement, Guest Engagement and Transformation / Redistribution to avoid landfilling.
The BOLD objective is for restaurants, canteens and hotel outlets to reach ZERO Food Waste to Landfill.
The 95 criteria, guidelines on auditor's expectations, and tools are available 24/7 on the online platform.
Here is a useful Food Recovery Hierarchy to prioritize actions towards prevention and diversion of wasted food.
4.1%
of Singaporeans face moderate to severe food insecurity between 2016 and 2018.
(Socialservice.sg)
6,500
free meals are cooked up daily for collection or delivery by the charity kitchen Willing Hearts.
(willinghearts)
As a One Stop Waste Manager social enterprise, D2L.sg is connecting businesses with a powerful solution for climate change and a zero-waste future: reducing food surplus and diverting food waste.
Driving Innovation in Shaping a Sustainable Future
Our innovative platform has helped clients across various sectors, including Corporate Offices, Hospitality & Events, Food Service providers, Retailers & Distributors, Caterers & Cafes, Farms & Grocers, and also Restaurants
How we can help you:
Our priority is to help companies and organisations attain zero food waste by diverting food surplus or waste to its best and highest value; for consumption or non-consumption uses depending on client requirements.
Contact us for our corporate deck.
Food from the Heart is a charity founded in February 2003 by Singapore-based Austrian couple Henry and Christine Laimer, who were inspired to channel surplus food from bakeries to families in need after they read an article about bread wastage.
Today, Food from the Heart is Singapore's foremost independent food charity with IPC status that makes a tangible and meaningful contribution to fighting hunger through bread rations and food packs, and bringing joy through the distribution of toys and birthday celebrations. With the support of donors, food industry partners and more than 10,000 volunteers, Food from the Heart made a difference to the lives of 40,300 people throughout Singapore by distributing S$5.9 million worth of food in 2018.
TreeDots is a B2B platform that enables suppliers to re-distribute their unsold inventory to organisations that can use them. Suppliers save money from otherwise discarded products and buyers get quality ingredients at lower prices.
The Food Bank Singapore's mission is to end food insecurity in Singapore through redistribution of food. They salvage approximately 550 tonnes of food a year, from manufacturers, distributors, retail stores, hotels, F&B establishments and consumers, and make it available to people in need through a network of member beneficiaries (360 to date).
They work with a Food Hygiene Consultant and a laboratory partner to ensure that the food quality meets the required standards for distribution.What they Collect:Non-Perishables: All dry, packaged food items as long as they are unexpired, unopened and with at least 1 week of shelf life. Perishables & Cooked Food Rescue: fresh pastries, vegetables, meat, dairy products and cooked food from hotels or other F&B establishments. Food items are delivered directly to beneficiary centres for consumption within the day.
Willing Hearts is well known for their soup kitchen: they prepare, cook and distribute ~5,000 meals everyday across the island, all year long.
Besides feeding the needy, they also provide marginalised communities such as the disabled, the elderly, low income families, migrant workers, etc. with assistance to rehabilitation and reinstatement into society.
For example:
1.3 billion tonnes
per year of food — fit for human consumption — is either wasted or lost globally.
(The Food and Agriculture Organization - United Nations)
86 times higher
The global warming potential of methane (a gas produced by food thrown away in landfills) compared to CO2 averaged over 20 years.
(The Conversation)
A1 Environment was created in 2012 by a team with over 20 years' experience in recycling.
A1 Environment was set up to provide more flexibility and better used coffee recycling services to organizations.
The company collects agro-waste and waste derived from food processing industries such as spent barley grains, soya waste and milk powder from local major food-processing factories and recycles them into food additives for poultry feed – distributed regionally within South East Asia.
As the first urban insect farm in Singapore rearing the black soldier fly (hermetia illucens), Insectta takes food waste and returns it into the economy as valuable biomaterials: chitosan, organic semiconductors, protein & probiotics.
Lam Tak has been in the animal feed industry since 1968. They have manufacturing factories in Singapore and Malaysia, they are able to manufacture standard, or unique feed formulation upon request.
Today, the company provides a wide variety of raw feed materials, such as soy press cake, spent grain, vegetable oil, food & feed grade dairy products, etc.
Founded in 1994, the company saves food waste from being wasted. They first began operations ferrying excess bread from production houses to Aqua farms for fish feed. As they progressed, they began developing resource recovery competencies to salvage materials from food waste that could otherwise be useful in the Agriculture industry.
Today, they work with food manufacturers to lower their cost of disposal through waste repatriation and resource recovery. They target waste hotspots in production line and convert these losses into gains fo their clients.
Under the Resource Sustainability Act, several mandatory provisions have been adopted regarding food waste segregation and treatment in Singapore.
From 2021 onwards - Developers of new commercial and industrial premises must set aside space for on-site or off-site food waste treatment systems in their design plans.
From 2024 onwards - All existing large commercial and industrial food waste generators will be required to segregate food waste for treatment using on-site food waste treatment systems (compost) or off-site facility treatment. This includes large hotels and malls, large industrial developments housing food manufacturers, food caterers and food storage warehouses.
There are different types of food waste treatment system:
The anaerobic digester is only for large volume of organic waste. For the other opportunities above, commercially available systems cover a wide range of volumes. The decision on the technology depends on CAPEX, OPEX, use for by-product post-processing, access to utilities (water and discard collection), agreement with local authorities, space available.
less than 2%
of the valuable biological nutrients infood by-products and organic waste is composted or valorised in cities, worldwide.
(Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation)
19%
only of food waste was recycled in Singapore in 2020.
(NEA)
Established in 2017, A-Smart Life provides compact recycling machines that allow low- energy, high-speed processing of food waste for conversion to natural, healthy fertilizers.
They are an approved vendor under the NEA listing.
Boon Poh delivers a range of environmental solutions including integrated waste management with recycling, cleaning and conservancy, and landscaping services.
Moving in the direction of environmental sustainability, their solutions work towards efficiency, performance, and productivity. They aim to provide a one-stop platform for environmental management needs.
They provide on-site food waste composters and digesters.
Founded in 1999, Datumstruct is a leading Solution Provider in Data Centre IT Infrastructure, Command & Control Centre, Office Furniture and Environmental Technology.
The company is helping commercial food service facilities to reduce their food waste & carbon foot print. They currently exclusively distribute a world leading brand of Bio-Digester, Powerknot (Silicon Valley, USA ) in South East Asia Market and Hong Kong / Macau Market.
Operates: Worldwide with a strong focus on SEA and China
Maeco Technologies specializes in providing solutions for organic waste management.
They perform audits to understand the specific needs of their customers and produce both the machinery and biological fermentation agents to address those needs. They combine engineering, design, fabrication capabilities and scientific expertise.
Westcom Solutions Pte Ltd (WCS) was established with the aim to conserve and improve the eco-green system environment and overall well-being. Their team is always committed to discover, updates and devoted to developing and producing a wide range of equipments and products from food waste recycling technology to water and bio-toilet technology.
Westcom Solutions Pte Ltd provides alkaline water (pH 9.0) and hydrogen water dispensers alongside food waste composting & recycling machines.
See above solution (1/2) for information about the different Food Waste Treatment Systems.
See below for more suppliers.
Using cutting edge technology, ORCA allows food waste to be treated on site at the source through the use of aerobic digestion, reducing the need to store food waste or having food waste sent to the landfill or incinerators. Catering for all business sizes and volumes of food waste with the smallest unit no bigger than a washing maching.
Food contamination can make a packaging non-recyclable. For instance, a clean pizza cardboard box is recyclable. However, when it is contamination with oily food (such as a pizza), the stained cardboard is not recyclable anymore.
Whenever possible, wash or rinse packaging (typically for glass, plastic, and metal packaging) or separate the contaminated parts (typically for paper or cardboard based packaging).
To deal with food contaminated products, it is better to use washable packaging for reuse or recycling. If it is not possible, prioritize using a compostable product that can be thrown along with the rest of the food.
When possible, consider a packaging loop such as Loopedin or Muuse
4% only
of plastic waste is recycled in Singapore. One major hurdle is waste contamination.
(NEA)
Loopedin is an ecotechnology packaging provider which enables food & beverage retailers and corporates to switch from single-use plastic containers to fully-reusable and food-grade recyclable inventories.
Loopedin offers its retail- and corporate clients quality sustainable and reusable packaging inventory management, collection, disposal, and recycling services designed with minimal impact on existing business processes.
Muuse promotes reuse to reduce single-use waste in Singapore. Through their QR-based system, you can borrow and return eco-stylish reusable cups and food boxes to and from 50+ outlets. They're also on GrabFood and foodpanda so you can save on waste the next time you order! To get started, just download the Muuse app.
Muuse is subscription-based but you can sign up for a FREE month trial of Muuse Pro. All first-time users can try out the app before committing to an active monthly or annual plan!
Get rid of single-use plastic / styrofoam cups, plates, cutlery, boxes... Replace them with reusable as much as possible.
Upstream, in priority order:
Downstream:
extra 1.3 million kg
of plastic waste was generated during the two-month circuit breaker against COVID-19 in 2020, due to theincreased demand for takeaway and delivery of meals. It is equivalent to the weight of 92 double-decker buses, without counting the disposable masks and PPE used.
(cgs)
32%
of the 78 million tons of plastic packaging produced annually is left to flow into oceans. It equals pouring one garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute.
(World Economic Forum)
To understand the difference between biodegradable and compostable, read this article on Ocean Watch
With BFOODING.BIO we provide sustainable and innovative packaging solution to address FMCG and F&B markets. As the trend set leader in Singapore F&B industry, Bfooding awareness is now worldwide.
Bfooding.bio is part of the Sphere Group, a European leader in BIO compostable plastics.
Biopak's mission is to produce packaging that puts the planet first and their ultimate goal is a waste-free world. They want to offer a very sustainable and innovative packaging and they are dedicated to reducing any negative impacts their business has on the environment. They are also the first packaging company to become carbon neutral in Australia and New Zealand.
Detpak is an innovative manufacturer of paper and board packaging solutions, working with some of the world’s largest and most iconic retail, foodservice and fast moving consumer goods brands. Across a global network of manufacturing and sales locations, Detpak design, manufacture and supply a market leading range of sustainable packaging solutions, including both recyclable and compostable options.
Detpak is proud to deliver the ultimate in service and value, whilst also maintaining the utmost in quality and care.
Loopedin is an ecotechnology packaging provider which enables food & beverage retailers and corporates to switch from single-use plastic containers to fully-reusable and food-grade recyclable inventories.
Loopedin offers its retail- and corporate clients quality sustainable and reusable packaging inventory management, collection, disposal, and recycling services designed with minimal impact on existing business processes.
Packing Green creates disposable tableware and food packaging made from plants. We offer a wide range of sustainable alternatives to traditional plastic disposable tableware. Help reducing the fossil fuel-based plastic use in HORECA and opt for our bio-based packaging collections.
Ceramic is not recyclable so it should NEVER be put in the blue bin.
As a result, keeping it longer is the most sustainable option. Opt for buying solid, good quality dining ware.
As ceramic is reusable, consider all other options before throwing your dining ware.
- if it still can be used:
- if it is broken and cannot be used:
Remember, broken Ceramic dining ware should be discarded with the general waste and not in the blue bins.
This is a DIY - Do It Yourself Solution. If you want, you may ask a consultant to help you implement it.
Recycle as much as possible (steel, hard plastic, glass...).
For large volume of recyclables, consider working with dedicated waste collectors for each waste stream: glass, metal, hard plastic, cardboard and paper.
For smaller volume of recyclables, the most cost-effective solution is to implement a single-stream mix-recyclable collection and ensure that the waste contractor will do the sorting at their material recovery facility.
This is a DIY - Do It Yourself Solution. If you want, you may ask a consultant to help you implement it.
If possible, use reusable napkins to minimise use of disposable items. You will need to put in place the adequate cleaning process.
Otherwise, use lightest and least carbon intensive compostable napkins. You will be able to compost them with your food waste in the food digester.
With BFOODING.BIO we provide sustainable and innovative packaging solution to address FMCG and F&B markets. As the trend set leader in Singapore F&B industry, Bfooding awareness is now worldwide.
Bfooding.bio is part of the Sphere Group, a European leader in BIO compostable plastics.
Biopak's mission is to produce packaging that puts the planet first and their ultimate goal is a waste-free world. They want to offer a very sustainable and innovative packaging and they are dedicated to reducing any negative impacts their business has on the environment. They are also the first packaging company to become carbon neutral in Australia and New Zealand.
Packing Green creates disposable tableware and food packaging made from plants. We offer a wide range of sustainable alternatives to traditional plastic disposable tableware. Help reducing the fossil fuel-based plastic use in HORECA and opt for our bio-based packaging collections.
🌏 What if sustainability became the norm in business, rather than a nice to have? That's our mission: using Technology, we simplify sustainability for organizations by making it more accessible, transparent and measurable.
We are building the first wholesale marketplace for sustainable products, connecting verified sustainable suppliers, manufacturers and brands.
✅ For brands, we offer uncompromising accessibility to all the sustainable products you need for your business. TEORRA rigorously vets all suppliers, so you as a buyer have absolute confidence and trust in the sustainable vendors you introduce to your supply chain; all while helping you measure your businesses impact as a result of choosing sustainable products.
✅ For suppliers, we help eliminate competition with conventional products by providing you with a marketplace specifically designed to servicing buyers looking for sustainable options. We make it easy for your business to attract new customers while helping you grow your brand globally.
The « green journey » may feel overwhelming sometimes, but you are not alone.
Our Buddies have tried, succeeded, failed to implement change in their companies. They share their experience so you can learn, take shortcuts, get inspired and ask questions.
Everybody can become a Buddy and give back to the community; if you are keen, get in touch with us.
My first job was with a major consulting company in Japan. I appreciated my time there, but was always yearning to do something with a greater direct impact, and something that gives me a greater sense of purpose. I am blessed to have the opportunity to travel the world, and be exposed to different perspectives, ways of living and available alternatives!
A series of serendipitous events led to the founding of merchandise.blue with two highly experienced and interesting friends. Merchandise.blue offers merchandise like uniforms, towels and bags in more environmentally progressive textiles made of materials like seaweed, organic cotton and recycled fishing nets.
When the opportunity to open Kizuna arose, it was clear that I wanted to apply similar values and principles to this physical space.
Tomo is a seasoned development professional having lived and worked in various corners of the world from the Tibetan plateau, Indian drylands, Indonesian tropics, to Japanese metropolises. He has extensive field experience working for international and local development NGOs across Asia and Africa, including Kopernik, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and the World Bank. He was formerly an Assistant Professor at the Global Leadership Program at the University of Tokyo.
Tomo has a BA in Social Anthropology from Harvard College, a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, and was an Asia Pacific Leadership Program Fellow (2008) and Innovation Fellow (2020) at the East-West Center. In 2014 Tomo was awarded the Dalai Lama’s Unsung Heroes of Compassion Award.
Founder and Director of the consulting business Zero Waste City, Rémi provides engineering consulting services to large commercial and industrial facilities on waste management, energy efficiency, and packaging design.
He has gained a strong experience as a consultant covering a wide range of industries and technologies in New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore.
He is a certified TRUE Advisor (Total Resource Use Efficiency) by the U.S. Green Building Council Inc. This certification recognised his knowledge in Zero Waste programs and his ability to support businesses to achieve the TRUE Zero Waste certification.
Entrepreneurial by nature, Claire started ShiokFarm in 2015 when realising the high prices for organic fruit and vegetables in Singapore. Based on the French AMAP model, in which Farmers and a community create a partnership in order to reduce food waste and cost, ShiokFarm aims to provide families and offices in Singapore with affordable organic fruit and vegetables while reducing food waste.
Starting with a small Facebook group, Claire has succeeded in making ShiokFarm an outstanding organic business. ShiokFarm received its BCorp certification in 2023.
Coming from a background of digital media, film-making, and digital marketing, Yen-Lyng fell into the sustainability field when she joined a waste management company as a Recycling Ambassador. During that time, she saw the many intricacies and challenges facing the very overlooked and underappreciated world of waste. So, when given the opportunity of working on a coffee recycling project, Yen-Lyng jumped at it. She will tell you more about her why and what of coffee recycling in her sharing and the challenges of lauching sustainable projects.
Virgile is an academic researcher who works for the CNRS (France) and the National University of Singapore. He heads an international collaborative lab between Singapore and France at the mechanobiology institute.
He is also in charge of the transition towards more sustainable practices in the lab and in the institute. He has already implemented various actions covering energy efficiency, consumables usage reduction, waste management...
I run a business called Bright Green where I work with corporates to engage employees in impact projects in the areas of environmental and social impact. I also facilitate sustainability learning programs to educate employees on developing an eco-friendly mindset and high impact actions they can take in their homes and daily lives.
Before founding Bright Green in 2020, I have been working in Project Management, Change Management and Continuous Improvement roles within Human Resources and Recruitment. I love that I get to work with organisations that are making commitments to net-zero and inspire employees to make an impact!
