Zurich project aims to combat food waste in restaurants

New project aims to combat food waste in Zurich restaurants Keystone-SDA

A new project aims to reduce food waste in Zurich’s catering establishments. The canton of Zurich, the cities of Zurich and Winterthur and the Reffnet association are supporting the new project, “Food Save Zurich”.

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The project will start in 2026 and interested businesses can already register, the canton said on Tuesday.

All avoidable food waste will be systematically recorded for two four-week periods as part of this project. Based on the measurement data, the catering establishments then develop various measures, such as adjustments to the menu or purchasing. Consultants support the businesses in this process.

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In canton Zurich, almost 40,000 tonnes of food from catering establishments end up as waste every year. Either because too much was bought, the portions were too large or as leftovers from buffets. This corresponds to 14% of the environmental impact caused by food waste.

According to studies, every kilogram of avoidable waste costs an average of CHF24 ($30). With the right measures, a catering business can reduce avoidable food waste by an estimated 30% to 60%, according to the report.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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