UN International Day of Zero Waste 2025: How F&Bs Can Cut Waste to Cut Cost
- GREEN Hospitality
- Mar 31
- 9 min read
Updated: Apr 9
Every year, humanity generates between 2.1 billion and 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste. All over the world, some 2.7 billion people lack access to waste collection, with 2 billion of whom living in rural areas. This prompted the United Nations General Assembly to adopt a resolution on 14 December 2022, at its 77th session, to proclaim 30 March as the International Day of Zero Waste, a day to be observed annually.
This year, the International Day of Zero Waste aims to mobilise waste reduction and resource circulation in the fashion and textiles industry. According to the Global Fashion Agenda, the fashion industry produces a staggering 92 million tonnes of annual waste – that’s a garbage truck full of clothing incinerated or landfilled every second.
Mass overconsumption and waste pollution are fueled every year with each additional tonne of textile waste. As the fashion industry is set to grow significantly until 2029 according to sources like CMI Consulting LLC and Statista Market Forecast, if no notable efforts are taken to reduce and recycle textile waste, the detrimental effects on the environment will only continue to increase.
With textile products being an essential part of guest experiences in the hospitality industry, practitioners can contribute to textile waste reduction and recycling, such as through the reduction of textile waste at the source, the life extension of textile materials, recycling and repurposing old textiles, and more. At GREEN Hospitality, we have held two collaborative workshops and events with Crestwell Attire and Infinity Innovation, including our recent Textile Waste Transformations workshop to visit a recycling facility, to demonstrate the possibility and know-how to advance such endeavours through education, collaboration, and innovation.
The Hidden Cost of Food Waste in Hong Kong’s F&B Sector
However, achieving “zero waste” also requires a close look at many other sources of waste around the world, so that we can work towards minimising global waste volume. The Food Waste Index Report released by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) found that in the year 2022, a total of 1.05 billion tonnes of food waste was generated globally – this number translates to 132 kilograms wasted per person, and is equivalent to discarding nearly one-fifth of all food produced for human consumption, even as global food insecurity persists. What’s more, food loss and waste account for 8-10% of annual greenhouse gas emissions, which is nearly five times the total emissions from the aviation sector, as revealed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This means that the food discarded by our population contributes more to the climate crisis than all of the world’s flights. Hence, food waste’s contribution to climate change and food resource depletion makes it a critical issue that we must not only raise awareness for, but also take action towards resolving.
Focusing on Hong Kong specifically, according to the Environmental Protection Department, food waste constituted the largest category of the 11,130 tonnes of municipal solid waste disposed of at landfills every day, highlighting the need to tackle food waste on this International Day of Zero Waste. This urge applies not only to households, but to F&B outlets as well.
According to a report from Waste360, we learnt that for every HK$10 invested by a restaurant into food waste reduction programmes, a cost-saving of HK$50-70 can be reaped. This Return on Investment (ROI) comes from practices such as minimising excessive purchases of food and thereby reducing procurement costs. Moreover, leftovers or foods previously considered ‘scraps’ can be used to develop new menu items, which can simultaneously increase revenue and lower waste management costs. From our experience in conducting waste management training, we saw an F&B client reducing costs by up to 83.7% in relation to the mechanism set out in the previous Municipal Solid Waste charging scheme in Hong Kong.
However, the costs that stem from excessive amounts of food waste are reflected in more than just an F&B’s balance sheets, as food waste also exacts a heavy toll on the environment and society at large. As we have detailed in our Waste Reduction Toolkit, improper food waste management, such as discarding it in landfills, can deprive communities of valuable resources. This can be further supported by information from Deliverect, which is a cloud-based software platform designed to streamline online food delivery operations for F&Bs. Their article regarding food waste highlighted it as a missed opportunity in both social and economic regards, to alleviate the issue of global hunger. Currently, large amounts of food waste are landfilled and left to contribute to methane emissions, rather than being repurposed through composting or anaerobic digestion, which can generate nutrient-rich soil amendments for energy. These missed opportunities reveal the true hidden costs of food waste, where our environment suffers degradation, and food insecurity is exacerbated by the draining of resources. As a result, whether the focus is on F&Bs’ profitability, climate threats, or food insecurity, there is an urgent need for systemic change in food waste management, segregation, and reduction.
The Results Brought By Waste Reduction Training
Practical waste reduction strategies not only address these systemic challenges, but also deliver measurable environmental and financial benefits.
Through our previous project, "Zero-waste to Landfill for the F&B Industry: Creating Circular Systems Through Education, Practice & Partnerships", we worked with 20 F&B outlets in the SoHo area of Hong Kong to train staff at the restaurants, bars, and coffee shops on waste reduction practices, help them measure their daily waste, and implement practices that could minimise the waste sent to landfills. In the end, our impact was seen in a 70% diversion rate of waste from landfill, which demonstrated to the participating F&B partners that sustainability can be beneficial to the bottom lines. For example, one client was able to cut its waste management costs by 83.7%, from HK$10,349 to HK$1,686, due to increased waste reduction and recycling. Across all 20 F&Bs, we saw 66.9% of waste recycled, which helped the outlets reduce their costs in waste management by a range of 25-95%.
Effective waste reduction measures can be a buffer for F&Bs currently facing economic challenges. In today’s F&B industry in Hong Kong, as stated by the Hong Kong Company Formation and Jia Development Limited, a licensed employment agency specialising in labour recruitment, many outlets are grappling with high operating costs, intense competition, and labour shortages. It would serve F&B businesses well to join in the sustainability movement to streamline waste management practices and mitigate economic and operational challenges. For example, businesses can lower disposal costs and optimise inventory management by reducing unnecessary purchases; differentiate themselves, enhance brand reputation in a saturated market, and attract sustainability-minded consumers; and simplify waste recycling and disposal tasks, reducing the need for additional labour and allowing staff to focus on core operations.
From our experience in providing training workshops to F&B clients, we have consistently seen that effective waste segregation and reduction not only translate into significant cost savings but also yield a measurable ROI. This approach transforms Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals into tangible financial benefits, enhancing both the bottom line and environmental sustainability. By implementing waste reduction strategies, Hong Kong F&Bs can convert potential losses into profits, aligning sustainability with economic success.
GREEN Hospitality’s Initiatives in Food Waste Reduction
Building on these successful waste reduction models, GREEN Hospitality has expanded its impact through strategic educational initiatives. At the heart of these training endeavours in the past years is the Food Waste to Good Taste (FWGT) campaign. Implemented by the School of Biological Science and the University of Hong Kong, funded by HKU Knowledge Exchange, and supported by GREEN Hospitality, CHOMP, and The Sustainable Restaurant Association, the project’s overarching goal is to raise awareness and promote creative approaches to managing and repurposing nutritious food waste in Hong Kong's hospitality industry.
In 2025, the third iteration of the project focuses on the measurement of the nutritional value of food scraps from restaurants across Hong Kong, highlighting the environmental and health impacts of food waste.
Through restaurant audits, training workshops, and knowledge sharing, the campaign raises awareness in the hospitality and F&B community of the losses in nutrients and opportunities as a result of mismanaged food waste.
Aligned with our expected outcome, the project has mobilised participants to take practical actions against food waste mismanagement. For example, one participant of a FWGT training workshop hosted in May 2024 noted, “The training gave a comprehensive overview of the economic, social, and environmental challenges and opportunities regarding food waste. The content was well-curated and researched, and the session provided a good forum to share and listen to ideas from other members of the hospitality industry.”
Beyond raising awareness, these educational initiatives equip F&B businesses in Hong Kong with practical tools to transform food waste management into measurable ESG advantages - a critical differentiator in today's competitive landscape.
An Untapped Opportunity in ESG
In today's market, these waste reduction competencies directly feed into ESG imperatives that determine aspects ranging from customer loyalty to investment decisions in the F&B sector.
Nowadays, ESG performance is no longer a “nice-to-have” feature. Instead, it is a competitive imperative. For hospitality and F&B businesses, waste reduction provides a straightforward and quantifiable way to boost their ESG credentials, which can resonate with existing and potential customers, regulators, as well as investors. While mandatory ESG reporting is primarily required for listed companies, non-listed hospitality businesses can also benefit from voluntarily adopting robust ESG practices. By doing so, they can enhance their reputation, attract sustainability-minded consumers, and potentially gain a competitive edge in securing financing or partnerships, as investors and suppliers increasingly prioritise sustainability in their decision-making processes. Some benefits across all three aspects of ESG include:
E – Emissions and a Circular Economy
Implementing effective waste management strategies to reduce, recycle, and repurpose otherwise discarded food waste, such as the efforts utilised in GREEN Hospitality’s training of 20 F&Bs, can significantly lower Scope 3 emissions. This can be achieved by minimising the production, transport, and packaging of food items that are unnecessary, reducing their respective contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. This will lower the F&B’s carbon footprint, a critical metric in ESG reporting as well as climate targets.
Strategies that companies can use to further turn waste into social value include forming partnerships with civil society organisations to promote resource circulation, such as donating surplus food to food banks or composting, which can advance not only the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 (Responsible Consumption) but also SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).
S – Improving Internal and External Engagement
By involving employees in their sustainability training, businesses can form a strong and holistic internal understanding of the organisation’s ESG goals and measures. This employee buy-in can contribute to even more effective sustainability endeavors, such as advising customers to support sustainability initiatives. Moreover, encouraging employees to participate in setting sustainability targets can boost both engagement and operational efficiency.
G – Financial Incentives & Transparent ESG Reporting
Waste audits provide businesses with documented metrics, including the amount of waste recycled as well as savings in operational costs. These metrics, along with transparent reporting practices, are essential for ESG reporting and can help secure sustainability-linked loans.
Not only can transparency in waste management help businesses demonstrate strong performance in both governance and accountability, but by also showcasing financial improvements achieved through waste reduction, businesses can enhance their appeal to investors and patrons significantly.
In working towards “zero waste,” the time to act is now—thankfully, proven frameworks exist to help businesses operationalise these ESG advantages immediately.
Using Waste Reduction to Drive Business Growth
Whether you’re taking your first step or levelling up existing waste reduction efforts, here are two impactful ways to start.
If you are looking to gain foundational knowledge on ESG, “ESG Essentials: Sustainable Business Strategies for a Changing World” is a free, six-week online course produced by The University of Hong Kong, available on edX. The course allows you to build ESG knowledge and expertise at your own pace, with interviews and case stories to provide insights on how companies can align their purposes with their ESG goals to improve overall performance.
For hospitality practitioners seeking ways to accelerate the sustainability practices at their establishments, the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) offers the Food Made Good Standard, a practical, globally recognised certification for restaurants to measure and improve every aspect of sustainability, from sourcing to social impact. It is trusted by over 10,750 professional kitchens across 73 countries and six continents. To reinforce their commitment to driving environmental impact and value, F&B businesses can leverage this certification to stand out amongst their competitors.
With a holistic approach to examining an organisation’s sustainability efforts, the Food Made Good Standard provides a roadmap for implementing strategies that can help reduce both waste and cost, and ensure the quantification and clear demonstration of the impact of these efforts. This standard offers the opportunity for businesses to gain more customer trust, further improving brand reputation and ESG performance. To get started, feel free to check out the Food Made Good Standard’s network specifically in Hong Kong.
By utilising these efforts, your F&B outlet can realise a quantifiable ROI in cost savings, improve brand value, and future-proof against regulatory costs. Whether you are at a starting point in implementing ESG or want to further optimise your efforts, these two solutions can offer avenues for your organisation to achieve and promote sustainability goals.
Conclusion
F&B outlets in Hong Kong are navigating a challenging industry landscape with rising operating costs, intense competition, and labour shortages. In this environment, effective waste reduction strategies can serve as solutions to build business resilience and long-term success. By proactively addressing waste, particularly food waste, F&B outlets can significantly reduce operational costs, enhance their brand reputation by improving ESG performance, and future-proof their operations against regulatory pressures. Waste reduction presents a tangible opportunity to improve the bottom line and navigate economic uncertainties. To learn how your business can transform waste into value and contribute to a more sustainable future, check out the resources offered by the Sustainable Restaurant Association and GREEN Hospitality. Feel free to contact us at waste@greenhospitality.io to get started or further your initiatives in waste sustainability!