Tackling inefficiencies can boost your bottom line, protect the planet, and support communities.
In this article:
- The hidden cost of business waste and why it’s more significant than household waste
- How reducing waste directly improves your profitability
- The environmental toll of wasted resources – and what’s already vanishing
- Why waste drives inequality and food insecurity
- Practical strategies to reduce waste in your business
- How Waste Buster, a smart tool for SMEs, helps cut waste by increasing forecasting accuracy
Waste not, want not – business and food waste
People increasingly abide by the adage ‘waste not want not’ in their home lives—we reuse plastic bags, and turn leftover dinner into creative lunches for the next day… However, the waste generated by households is small compared to the waste generated by businesses.
In the case of food waste, 7.6 million tonnes of food is wasted every year (yuck!) and only a third of that waste occurs in the household. The rest occurs in businesses—between primary producers, manufacturers/distributors/retailers and hospitality/institutions.
Why is waste bad for profit?
When goods are produced but not sold, or produced inefficiently, the cost of goods sold (COGS) becomes too high. Profit margins are reduced, revenue is lost, and businesses struggle to maintain financial sustainability.
When materials are wasted, time is also wasted. In the case of baked goods for example, making 5,000 croissants a week when you’re only selling 3,000 means two fifths of your time could have been better spent developing new product lines or improving processes.
Why is waste bad for our planet?
Apart from sunshine, the pool of resources we have on the planet that we use to experience life, is in finite supply. When we fail to maximise the utility of any resource by wasting things, the pool gets smaller more quickly and risks running out.
Indeed, essential resources are already disappearing. Half of the topsoil on the planet has been lost in the last 150 years and global freshwater demand is projected to outstrip supply by 40% by 2030.
Depleting our natural resources by wasting material of any kind risks the long-term viability of our planet as a prosperous environment for humankind.
Why is waste bad for people?
Waste impacts negatively on human welfare in different ways. To continue the croissant theme, food waste accounts for 10% of global CO₂e emissions. These fuel the climate crisis which in turn impacts human safety, health, and livelihoods.
Waste also inflates prices, as sellers try to recover fixed expenses from fewer sales. 22% of food waste occurs during primary production, which pushes up prices. And despite 70% of wasted food being perfectly edible, over 2 million households have experienced severe food insecurity in the last twelve months.
It’s reasonable to surmise that, like cigarettes, every wasted croissant is doing you (and your business) damage.
How can businesses reduce waste?
Businesses should consider the material intensity of their operation, and always try to do more, with less.
This might involve increasing the material efficiency of a product through design or manufacturing improvements. It could involve increasing the accuracy of a production or delivery schedule, to minimise lost sales and wasted goods.
In all cases, data is critical to understanding where and how waste is occurring, and re-planning your business to help avoid it.
Waste Buster – your secret weapon against waste
Waste Buster is a user-friendly, low-cost tool built by Zooss specifically for small and medium-sized producers – and with waste reduction in mind.
By joining the dots between production, delivery and sales, Waste Buster helps businesses to forecast sales automatically, plan delivery schedules, optimise stock levels, and generate practical, actionable plans, easily.
Waste Buster helps businesses to reduce waste – and improve both financial and environmental sustainability.
About the author – Sophie Schlachter, Sustainability Advisor
Sophie holds a Master of Sustainability from the University of Sydney and has worked across regenerative agriculture and waste management sectors, including for OzHarvest and the Taronga Zoo Conservation Society. Sophie is experienced in business and sustainability analytics, and is passionate about enabling sustainable business that balances profit with positive environmental and social outcomes.
Find out more
- Waste Buster: Cut waste, boost profit and build a more sustainable business by connecting data
- Australia’s Circular Economy – Interim Productivity Commission report calls for urgent reforms
- About Zooss, our leadership team, and our values
- Ready to start planning sustainably? Contact us.
Better Planning. Better Planet.