UAE's new zero-food waste guide to help cut loss by up to 60%

Up to 40% of locally grown and imported food in the country is wasted

Haneen Dajani

Published: Wed 27 Nov 2024, 7:30 PM

Last updated: Wed 27 Nov 2024, 9:29 PM

A zero-food waste guide that helps event organisers and food businesses put a curb on food loss was released on Wednesday by Ne’ma.

Emirates Foundation’s food loss initiative which kicked off in March 2022, has been collaborating with major events, including COP28, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) and Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) to reduce food waste. They managed to lower food loss by up to 60 per cent, said Khuloud Al Nuwais, Secretary-General of Ne’ma and Chief Executive of Emirates Foundation.

It is difficult to measure actual wasted food, she said, but between 30 to 40 percent of locally grown and imported food is wasted.

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“We import 80 to 30 percent of our food, then waste 30% of it — so one third of it in average.”

The collaborations launched by Ne’ma on a federal level will pave the path for an accurate food-loss index which would assist in combating food waste, she added.

During zero-waste events managed by Na’ema, perfectly edible food is handed out to those in need, while leftovers are composited and turned into fertilisers to avoid sending any food remains to landfills. She said behavioural change is key; “The guide we just launched is the outcome of our collaborations over the last two years”.

Examples of minimal measures that impact food practices include handing out smaller plates at open buffets and posting ‘nudges’ - key messages placed in food outlets to influence consumer behaviour.

“Sometimes you see people piling up their plates with food at buffets and most of it goes to waste.

“The UAE is a very hospitable culture, they have the culture of buffets and (lavish) restaurants. We don’t want people not to enjoy that, but we want them to be conscious consumers,” she explained, “We want to make sure that the food they put on their plates does not go to waste, and this is why we have introduced the (guide’s) simple steps and measures.”

The guide advises event planners to pre-plan their menus and control portions, train the catering team on food waste management, and empowering chefs to adjust menus when certain items are repeatedly not consumed.

One success case was that of Capital Catering who managed to rescue over 400kg of unserved food from going to landfills during ADSW last year; over 1,000 meals were delivered to unprivileged families, while three tonnes of leftovers were converted into 500kg of natural fertiliser.

“Working with Ne’ma has been a transformative journey for Capital Catering,” said its Interim CEO Ahmad Shaker.

This year, the company has diverted over 4,000 kilogrammes of food waste from landfills and donated 1,862, ‘with more initiatives in the pipeline’.

“For 2025, we are setting our sights even higher, aiming to increase our impact by at least 30 percent,” he added.

The Zero-Food Waste event guide was launched during the Global Food Security Summit taking place in the capital from Nov 26 to 28. It comes in line with the UAE 2030 vision to cut down food waste by 50 percent.

The guide can be downloaded via the following link: https://nema.ae/en/Publications

Globally, 1.2 billion tonnes of food are lost annually during on farm and harvest stages, meanwhile, 30% of global food production that goes to waste, the summit heard.

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