International Day of Zero Waste: Saving edible food from landfills

In last week’s blog post, we discussed the basic principles of circular economies. A significant part of this concept centered around the principle of ‘reducing’; both raw materials used, as well as waste generated. If we think back to the traditional ‘take, make and waste’ model, we see how generating waste is a central part of this outdated model. Contrary to this, a move towards a circular economy aims to cut out this negative consequence of manufacturing by reducing and aiming to eliminate waste.

Today, the 30th of March is International Day of Zero Waste. This initiative by the United Nations aims to spread awareness in relation to waste generated and the negative consequences thereof. It further promotes systems and methods which reduce waste in order to aim towards the principles of zero waste. As is customary with these United Nations days, a yearly theme is assigned to the day. The theme for 2026 focuses on food waste and the reduction thereof.

The food waste problem

I can safely say that I severely underestimated the magnitude of the food waste problem, both globally and in South Africa. Through researching the subject for this blog post, I was shocked at the degree to which food waste actually takes place. Globally, nearly a fifth of all food produced is wasted in some way or another. This amounts to around a billion tons of edible food being wasted yearly, as per the estimates of the United Nations. Closer to home in South Africa, this problem escalates even further, with a conservative estimate of about a third of all food produced being wasted.

FoodForward SA is a non-profit organisation within South Africa, aiming to redistribute edible food to communities in need before this food goes to waste in landfills. According to a recent long-term study which they performed, more than half of South African households experience some degree of food insecurity, all while the above-mentioned food waste takes place. Further to this, more than 15 million South Africans face daily hunger.

A further food waste related problem that often goes unnoticed, is that of greenhouse gas production during food decomposition, especially methane gas. A significant amount of food wasted ends up in landfills, where rot and decomposition of the food take place. A byproduct of the decomposition is methane, a greenhouse gas much more potent than CO2. With greenhouse gasses being major drivers of climate change, food waste is thus a contributor. When we include all the materials and energy needed to produce this food, the problem becomes even greater than just the decomposition.

Food waste during different production stages

From farm to table, food moves through different stages. This includes farming and harvesting, manufacturing, transport, retail and consumption. Food waste takes place at all these different stages of the process. A multitude of distinct reasons contribute to this problem. This ranges from natural disasters such as flooding or pests during harvesting, to poorly informed choices and excessive buying from consumers.

At the retail level, strict quality and hygienic measures, manufacturing errors and damaged goods, or supply chain problems contribute greatly to food waste according to FoodForward SA. Situations also exist where retailers do not want to buy certain crops from farmers because it does not meet specific criteria, although it is totally safe and edible. This creates a situation where food that is safe and within its expiration date is not fit for sale or is not sold within time, and is subsequently not suitable for retail anymore. In many instances this food will be disposed of and often ends up in landfills. I think we can all agree that this is anything but ideal.

A clear gap thus exists for this food to be distributed to communities and households in need, and this is where organisations such as FoodForward SA come into play. For Zero Waste day in 2026 and the focus of food waste, we chose to focus this blog post specifically on this stage of retail food waste, and the wonderful work that organisations like FoodForward SA do. Let’s dive a bit further into this.

The role of food redistribution organisations

To say that organisations such as FoodForward SA play an invaluable critical role in food security is a major understatement. The value of these organisations cannot be overstated. We can see this by looking at some of the metrics published by FoodForward SA. In the past year, this specific organisation has redistributed more than 20 000 tons of food to communities in need. This has benefited more than 800 000 beneficiaries daily and has prevented more than 100 000 tons of CO2 entering the atmosphere. This is just one organisation doing their part to redistribute edible food, with many others also contributing.

It is clear by looking a bit deeper into the food waste problem we are facing, that the solutions to combat food waste lies in the collaborative efforts across different sectors. A big part of this is the buy in of retailers and farmers who donate the excess food to these charitable organisations. Since food waste occurs throughout the entire food system, it needs to be combatted at each stage. This ranges from smarter farming technologies to consumer education, with change needed across the board. Luckily, this is gaining good momentum and FoodForward SA and similar organisations do a lot to combat food waste.

On this International Day of Zero Waste, we salute all the heroes who do their part to combat food waste, methane emissions and food insecurity. What I love most about organisations such as FoodForward SA, is that they saw an opportunity to implement a simple change in a broken system, which lead to a huge difference in the lives of people in need. Instead of throwing away surplus food, it is just redirected to them, and they do the rest. How awesome is that!

Be filled with nature.

Willem🐛