TECHNOLOGY

“ For supply and retail chains , early studies carried out by Avery Dennison have shown up to a 20 % reduction in waste at a UK retailer using RFID , by ensuring that short sell-by dates can be easily and quickly identified , and the products brought forward and sold well within those dates ”

In the case of food waste , the UK waste and recycling advisory body Wrap in 2015 estimated that , of the 7.3mn tonnes of household food thrown away , 4.4mn tonnes was actually edible . This “ avoidable ” food waste also generates 19mn tonnes of greenhouse gases over its lifetime , equivalent to almost a quarter of the CO2 generated by UK cars per year . A second major cause of food waste is losses in the distribution and retail chain . For example , the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that approximately 4 % of meat and

MARCH 2020

Sustainability Magazine March 2020 | Page 40

“ For supply and retail chains , early studies carried out by Avery Dennison have shown up to a 20 % reduction in waste at a UK retailer using RFID , by ensuring that short sell-by dates can be easily and quickly identified , and the products brought forward and sold well within those dates ”