ITE’s Culinary Students Develop Recipes For Unconsumed Food At Home [Press Release]

Homemakers can turn unconsumed food into a new dish instead of throwing them away

Singapore, 17 Oct 2016 – Zero Waste SG and ITE College West are co-organising the inaugural “Save Food Cut Waste” Recipes Competition 2016 for ITE’s culinary students to develop recipes for unconsumed food at home. Sheng Siong is the Food Sponsor and the National Environment Agency (NEA) is the Supporting Partner for this competition.

Families who prepare and cook food at home often have unconsumed food after their meals and end up throwing them away. A survey conducted by NEA last year found that 80% of participants prepare food at home, and 39% of those who prepare food at home have unconsumed food after a meal.

Therefore, the objective of this competition is to develop suitable recipes to help homemakers learn and cook their unconsumed food into another dish the next day, instead of throwing them away. More importantly, this competition would educate the culinary students about the problem of food waste and to be mindful about not wasting food when they are working in the food and beverage industry in the future. Read more

Reducing food waste: Getting Singaporeans to embrace ‘ugly food’ [News]

By Liyana Othman, Channel NewsAsia, 24 Oct 2016

More than 790,000 tonnes of food waste was generated in Singapore last year – almost the equivalent of throwing away two bowls of rice every day.

There are no official figures on the breakdown of food waste in Singapore, and also how throwing away blemished or oddly-shaped food may contribute to the problem. But studies have shown that globally, 46 per cent of fruits and vegetables never make it from farm to fork.

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Source: Channel NewsAsia

8 in 10 Singaporeans will avoid buying ‘ugly’ fruits, vegetables: Survey [News]

By Wong Casandra, TODAY, 12 Oct 2016

When buying groceries, would you pass over a dented apple or a slightly browned banana?

If your answer is yes, you are among the majority, going by the findings of a survey on “ugly food” — food that does not look appealing for consumption.

Eight out of 10 Singaporean respondents surveyed by Electrolux said they would typically only buy fruits and vegetables that look fresh and good.

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Source: TODAY

Food waste gets second life as compost at international school [News]

By Lim Jia Qi, Channel NewsAsia, 12 Oct 2016

Vegetable peels, fruit waste and coffee grounds – all this organic waste does not simply go down the garbage chute at the Dover campus of the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA).

Instead, these are given a second life as compost for the school’s gardens. In 2012, UWCSEA started a composting project in a bid to reduce food wastage. Getting the project underway was not easy – it involved a few high school students setting up a composting site within the school and collecting pre-cooked waste such as vegetable peels and fruit scraps from the canteen daily.

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Source: Channel NewsAsia

Non-profit groups step up efforts to bring restaurant excess to needy [News]

By Wong Casandra, TODAY, 25 Sep 2016

Sometimes it’s lamb stew on the menu, other times it’s roast duck. For the past few months, Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has been donating excess food prepared for banquets to the less fortunate. On each occasion, an average of 50 to 80 trays of unserved, blast-frozen cooked dishes are delivered for same-day consumption.

Under the watchful eye of Executive Chef Christopher Christie, kitchen staff check the food is at -5°C to -10°C before packing them into thermal boxes. Staff from The Food Bank Singapore stand ready to load them into a van for delivery.

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Source: TODAY

Free Food Waste Awareness Talks for Companies

We are currently conducting free food waste awareness talks for companies. The talk is about 1.5 hours and involves the screening of a video on food waste in Singapore, followed by a presentation on the food waste problem and what individuals can do to reduce food waste. We also have free posters and stickers from NEA for companies to display at their pantry to remind staff to reduce food waste.

Companies that are interested in the free talk can reply to us at talks@zerowastesg.com with some suitable dates and time so that we can arrange for our volunteers to give the talk. Companies are welcomed to make a donation to Zero Waste SG if they wish to, and we hope that at least 20 people attend the talk so that it is worth our time.

Food waste: Where food matters, looks matter more [News]

By Channel NewsAsia, 16 Feb 2016

If you and your family made it a point to finish every morsel of your Chinese New Year meals, then you have all done exceptionally well.

This is because every year, Singapore sees hundreds of thousands of tonnes of food going to waste. According to the National Environment Agency, the country wasted approximately 790,000 tonnes of food in 2014. During the Chinese New Year period, food waste increases by up to 20 per cent.

As a small country with limited agricultural ability, Singapore is heavily reliant on imports for food. In 2014, Singapore spent US$10.6 billion (S$14.8 billion) importing 5.93 million tonnes of food. But out of that, 13 per cent of its imports, or US$1.4 billion worth of it, end up as waste.

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Source: Channel NewsAsia

2 hawker centres to pilot food waste recycling systems [News]

By Chan Luo Er, Channel NewsAsia, 21 Jan 2016

A two-year on-site food waste recycling pilot at two hawker centres, Ang Mo Kio Blk 628 Market and Tiong Bahru Market, was launched on Thursday (Jan 21).

The National Environment Agency (NEA) estimated that each market generates two to three tonnes of food waste daily, with the majority from stalls in the wet market and table cleaning operations. If the pilot is successful, food waste recycling could reduce the total waste generated from both hawker centres by up to 80 per cent, the agency said.

For instance, the machine at Ang Mo Kio Blk 628 Market, operated by Eco-Wiz, is able to convert one tonne of food waste into water within 24 hours. Customised microbes would break down food waste to convert it into water, and the water is then used for cleaning the bin centre.

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Source: Channel NewsAsia

Food waste recycling trial at hawker centres and markets

A two-year on-site food waste recycling trial at Ang Mo Kio Blk 628 Market and Tiong Bahru Market was launched by the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Thursday, to test the economic viability and operational feasibility of two different types of on-site food waste recycling systems. The systems are leased by NEA from two vendors – Eco Wiz (SG) and VRM Operations (Singapore), and the vendors would also be in-charge of maintaining the systems. The pilot trial is expected to conclude in Dec 2017.

Zero Waste SG visited the 2 trial markets for the launch, which include both hawker centres and wet markets. Ang Mo Kio Blk 628 Market (with 218 stalls) generates about two tonnes of food waste per day, while Tiong Bahru Market (with 342 stalls) generates about three tonnes of food waste per day. Most of the food waste are generated from market slab stalls and table cleaning operations. The food waste recycling systems could reduce up to 80% of the total waste generated from both locations. Read more

Organisations look to reduce food waste with centralised recycling system [News]

By Olivia Siong, Channel NewsAsia, 18 Jan 2016

With 25 F&B outlets, a supermarket and a food court, the Amara hotel and shopping centre at Tanjong Pagar generates about one and a half tonnes of food waste every day.

The food waste used to go into an incineration plant and a landfill, but it will soon be recycled when the hotel fully installs its new food digester system.

The system works by decomposition, with microbes turning the food into slurry water, a combination of liquids and solids. It is then put into a filtration system, turning it back into recyclable water, which can be pumped back into the system.

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Source: Channel NewsAsia

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