Over one fourth of all food produced for human consumption goes to waste. In US, for example, half of its food goes to waste and food waste is the third largest portion of the US waste stream.

Crop deterioration and damage by extreme weather conditions before harvest, food wasted through inefficient harvesting, damage during transport and storage, discarded unsold food from wholesale and retail outlets, leftover food, households wasting their food purchases which are never prepared... all add up to the huge food waste problem.

Restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, schools, hospitals, prisons and food wholesalers and food manufacturers are all large generators of food waste. Typically, the percentage of disposed food can be from 10 to 50%.

Most of the waste currently ends up in landfills and incinerators, but both methods are not environmentally friendly and cause our Earth many destructive consequences.

A study from University of Arizona in 2004 indicates that reducing food waste by half could reduce adverse environmental impacts by 25% through reduced landfill use, soil depletion and application of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.

There is, however, a limit as to how much food waste can be reduced at source. Whatever food waste that accumulates still need to be treated effectively.