Prioritizing Food Waste Management for a Greener Tomorrow Beyond Landfills: Strategies to Shrink our Carbon Footprint through Food Waste Reduction

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are attracting global attention amid concerns over food security and environmental pollution resulting from the expanding global economy and population growth. Food waste that occurs at all stages of processing is thrown into landfills. This food waste is sent to landfills where it decomposes to produce greenhouse gas emissions. A significant portion of waste thrown into landfills is organic kitchen waste that decomposes to produce greenhouse gases responsible for climate change and environmental risks. This observation is that of our results, which point out that poor management of food waste, the landfills which receive it are uncontrolled and thus leaving access to human persons due to the proximity to the residential houses, as well as to insects and animals. Incineration is the main method used to dispose of waste, with very few initiatives for recycling or composting of waste, thus leaving their degradation or incineration in the open air with all the consequences on the carbon footprint and the climate. Initiatives for the good use of waste, in particular: recycling, composting, etc., must be encouraged for the good management of waste and landfill sites in order to preserve our environment from greenhouse gases. For this reason, regulations on waste management and landfills must be considered to prevent the future.