Food waste reduction in restaurants in Porto and Ibiza
Published on 31 January 2019
Portugal
Norte
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
A significant part of the municipal waste consists of food waste, either from meal preparation, food storage, bad stock management or end of expiry dates. Another part of food waste consists of processed/cooked food that is not eaten, which does not actually get to be served or goes back to the kitchen as scraps, when menus include excessive amounts of food. This means not only that food in good condition is thrown away every day, but also that every day people are acting irresponsibly, which has a negative impact on the environment. To tackle this problem Porto and Ibiza developed some projects dedicated to minimizing the amount of food waste produced in restaurants, all of them based on raising awareness and encouraging restaurants and their clients to change their eating habits.
The project “Dose Certa”, developed in Porto, consists on an educational action within the restaurants that voluntarily agreed to participate, aiming to resize the portions served in every meal and, consequently, reduce the amount of leftovers. Complementing “Dose Certa” and focusing on a different part of the process, the project “Embrulha.” consists on offering the restaurants a biodegradable leftovers pack, with an appealing appearance, to encourage clients to bring their leftovers home. The same concept that based the project “Embrulha.” was also explored by Ibiza with the project “Aprofita’Mmm”, which took place during the European Week for Waste Reduction in 2015 and 2016.
The project “Dose Certa”, developed in Porto, consists on an educational action within the restaurants that voluntarily agreed to participate, aiming to resize the portions served in every meal and, consequently, reduce the amount of leftovers. Complementing “Dose Certa” and focusing on a different part of the process, the project “Embrulha.” consists on offering the restaurants a biodegradable leftovers pack, with an appealing appearance, to encourage clients to bring their leftovers home. The same concept that based the project “Embrulha.” was also explored by Ibiza with the project “Aprofita’Mmm”, which took place during the European Week for Waste Reduction in 2015 and 2016.
Resources needed
The development of these projects required the involvement of the restaurants and their customers, in order to get their collaboration and give them the required training.
Evidence of success
“Dose Certa” is implemented in 18 restaurants in Porto. The estimates show a reduction potential of around 30% of the food waste production. In the last quarter of 2017 “Embrulha.” Prevented 3,24 tonnes of food waste and 680 kg of CO2-equivalent emissions. Almost 40 restaurants participated in the campaign “Aprofita’Mmm” reaching more than 1000 customers each year. If each customer took home around 100g of leftover food, this campaign prevented 1000 kg of food waste each year
Potential for learning or transfer
The projects “Dose Certa”, “Embrulha.” and “Aprofita’Mmmm” are essentially based in awareness and training activities. They don’t imply significant logistical changes in the restaurants functioning and the key factor for their success is the collaboration of the restaurants and the participation of the costumers. Therefore, they are suitable to be replicated and implemented anywhere. Furthermore, the high density of restaurants is a common characteristic of heritage areas, so these kind of projects could have a significant impact in reducing the waste produced in these areas.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
Organisation
Lipor - Serviço Intermunicipalizado de Gestão de Resíduos do Grande Porto
Portugal
Norte
Contact
Dr.