Around the world, more than 1,3 billion tons of food is wasted every year. Feeding the world’s 1 billion hungry could be done with less than a quarter of the food that is thrown into landfills in the US and Europe.
In a recent World Economic Forum, reducing food waste to 20 million tons per year was recognized as one of 12 actions that can help transform global food systems by 2030.
And South Korea has taken the lead, now recycling up to 95% of its food waste.
But such indicators were not always in South Korea. The mouth-watering side dishes that accompany traditional South Korean food, panchang, often go uneaten, contributing to some of the world’s highest food losses. Each person in South Korea generates more than 130 kg of food waste per year.
In comparison, per capita food waste in Europe and North America is between 95 and 115 kg per year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. But the South Korean government has taken drastic measures to dispose of these mountains of junk food.
Back in 2005, South Korea banned the disposal of food in landfills, and in 2013 the government introduced the mandatory recycling of food waste using special biodegradable bags. On average, a family of four pays $6 a month for these bags, which encourages people to do household composting.
The bag fee also covers 60% of the cost of running the scheme, which has increased recycled food waste from 2% in 1995 to 95% today. The government has approved the use of recycled food waste as fertilizer, although some of it becomes animal feed.
Smart containers
Technology has played a leading role in the success of this scheme. In the capital of the country, Seoul, 6000 automatic containers equipped with scales and RFID have been installed. The vending machines weigh incoming food waste and charge residents via their ID cards. The vending machines have reduced the amount of food waste in the city by 47 tons in six years, according to city officials.
Residents are strongly encouraged to reduce the weight of waste by removing moisture from it. Not only does this cut their waste disposal costs—food waste contains about 80% moisture—but it also saves the city $8,4 million in waste collection fees.
Waste collected using a biodegradable bag scheme is compressed at the processing plant to remove residual moisture, which is used to create biogas and biooil. The dry waste is turned into fertilizer, which in turn helps spur a growing urban farming movement.
City farms
In the past seven years, the number of urban farms and orchards in Seoul has increased sixfold. Now they are 170 hectares – the size of about 240 football fields. Most of them are located between residential buildings or on the roofs of schools and municipal buildings. One farm is located even in the basement of an apartment building and is used for growing mushrooms.
The city government covers 80% to 100% of the initial costs. Proponents of the scheme say that urban farms not only produce local products, but also bring people together into communities, while people used to spend more time in isolation from each other. The city plans to install food waste composters to support city farms.
So, South Korea has made a lot of progress – but what about panchang, anyway? According to experts, South Koreans have no choice but to change their eating habits if they really intend to fight food waste.
Kim Mi-hwa, Chairman of the Korea Zero Waste Network: “There is a limit to how much food waste can be used as fertilizer. This means that there needs to be a change in our eating habits, such as moving to a one-dish culinary tradition like in other countries, or at least reducing the amount of panchang that accompanies meals.”