ESG Mena, in partnership with Ecyclex.
ADNEC Group and Tadweer Group have signed an MoU to establish a framework for strengthened collaboration in waste management and sustainability practices.
The agreement will cover a range of activities, including the introduction of expanded waste management systems and solutions.
The two will also launch awareness campaigns and initiative through which they will advocate for sustainable practices and encourage responsible behaviour.
Further, the agreement includes provisions for the design and implementation of recycling stations to encourage practising segregation at source.
This involves the deployment of newly designed Recycling Vending Machines (RVM) led by the Tadweer Group and the implementation of the Tadweer Rewards system.
Plans for food waste processing through waste master and anaerobic digesters and the adoption of other innovative technologies are also included in the agreement.
Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of ADNEC Group, said: “ADNEC Group’s partnership with Tadweer Group underscores our strategic focus on sustainability through waste management and recycling, aligning with the UAE’s objectives and national strategies for sustainable development. By addressing this challenge in accordance with the vision of our country’s leadership, we are forging new partnerships and facilitating innovative solutions to strengthen our recycling and reduction efforts across all sectors of our business.”
Ali Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tadweer Group, commented: “We are pleased to announce the signing of this strategic agreement in partnership with ADNEC Group. Through collaboration with like-minded organisations, we remain committed to unlocking the value of waste, fostering a circular economy and encouraging behavioural change within the community’s recycling infrastructure. We look forward to partnering with the public and private sectors as we continue to work towards our ambition of diverting 80% of waste from landfill, thereby contributing to the UAE’s net zero targets.”
Majid Al Futtaim is expanding its food rescue programme ‘Feed the Future’ for Ramadan.
The company will leverage brands across its business to reduce food waste and manage surplus. It is teaming up with technology platform Replate, restaurant partners at Majid Al Futtaim shopping malls, and other brands, including VOX Cinemas and Crate and Barrel, to schedule and manage surplus food donations throughout the month.
Likewise, by collaborating with UAE Food Bank, it will facilitate pickups to ensure that contributions reach charitable organisations and groups.
‘Feed the Future’ was initially launched as a pilot project at flagship Mall of the Emirates across two months, which resulted in over 2,000 meals recovered daily, saving 15kg of food daily, conserving 2.28 million litres of water, and diverting 2,050kg of CO2 from the environment.
Indeed, according to Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, each day in the UAE, it is estimated that around 38 per cent of food prepared is wasted, and this figure goes even higher during Ramadan.
When this food decomposes, it emits methane – 25 times more damaging than CO2.
Commenting on the announcement, Fuad Mansoor Sharaf, Managing Director, of the UAE Shopping Malls, at Majid Al Futtaim Properties, said: “We are pleased to partner with the UAE Food Bank and Replate to combat food waste this Ramadan. This initiative aims to minimise waste, and distribute food surplus to beneficiaries nationwide, while reinforcing our commitment to becoming Net Positive by 2040, and aligning with the UAE’s values of generosity and benevolence. We urge all F&B outlets to join us in this cause during the Holy Month, to contribute to food security, and a sustainable future for all.”
Hachem Mahfoud, Strategy & Partnerships at Replate, said: “Our partnership with Majid Al Futtaim on the Feed the Future initiative pioneered by Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls has been nothing short of progressive. We have been working closely with them and the UAE Food Bank to innovate the food rescue model and implement this group-wide initiative at Majid Al Futtaim.”
Adding: “While food insecurity may not be a prevalent issue in the UAE, ensuring access to nutritious food and mitigating climate change remains a top priority and shared vision for all of us. The success of the community fridge model proves that fostering the right partnerships and building trust is crucial for moving forward. Through technology and innovation, we are confident that we can further enhance and scale food recovery programs such as Feed the Future in the UAE, making a positive impact on communities and the environment.”
ne’ma, the UAE National Food Loss and Waste Initiative, has announced the launch of its nationwide Ramadan campaign, “Count Your ne’ ma.”
The initiative aims to raise awareness and encourage actionable steps to reduce food loss and waste during the holy month.
The month-long campaign follows insights recently collected by ne’ma, which found that 85 per cent of participants recognise food waste as a crucial national issue.
Research also shows that, globally, roughly eight per cent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food waste.
Key elements of the “Count Your ne’ma” campaign include behaviour change initiatives to drive new social norms and sustainable practices on the individual level.
It will be supported by collaboration with hospitality industry partners, regulatory bodies, and food banks to distribute imperfect surplus fresh produce to support communities, prevent food waste, and contribute to food security.
It shared that over 270 sector partners are registered and reporting data on the ne’ma Data Hub, including leading hotel chains Hilton, Accor, Rotana, Marriott, and Jumeirah, among others.
This year, ne’ma and the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Safety Authority (ADAFSA) are strategically collaborating on the “Together Blessings Last” Ramadan trial for the hospitality sector.
The trial aims to measure and report actual food waste levels during Ramadan and identify Ramadan-specific behaviours to establish recommendations. Indeed, from this, a comprehensive trial report will be published highlighting sector-specific Ramadan challenges and best practices, and “industry champions” will be recognised.
Khuloud Hasan Al Nuwais, Chief Sustainability Officer of Emirates Foundation and “ne’ma” Committee Secretary General, commented: “Count Your ne’ma” is a call to action for individuals, businesses, government entities, and communities to unite and make a difference. Through simple changes in behaviours and mindful consumption practices, we can all play a role in ending food waste.”
Adding: “ne’ma reflects the UAE leadership’s vision and call to action to reduce food waste, encourage social responsibility, and promote sustainable practices. As we observe Ramadan, we must be mindful of the significant food waste issue that’s often associated with the holy month. Our ‘Count Your ne’ma’ campaign reminds us of our collective responsibility to reflect and replace existing wasteful habits with others that are more aligned with the Emirati values of moderation, consideration, and mindfulness. We invite everyone to join our movement and work towards making the UAE a country where no food is wasted because we can all contribute to this ambitious effort.”
Hundreds of organisations have signed the ne’ma pledge, and in 2023, ne’ma diverted over one million kgs of food from landfills, saving 2.4 million kgs of CO2 emissions.
Further, since 2022, the application of ne’ma’s behavioural nudges has resulted in an up to 62 per cent reduction in food waste.
The UAE Food Bank has launched a meal distribution initiative for the holy month of Ramadan. Through collaborative efforts with partners, the bank aims to gather and distribute over five million meals to deserving individuals.
The initiative focuses on effectively managing surplus food, minimising waste, and globally distributing it to beneficiaries.
It aims to distribute a daily rate of 166,666 meals to feed over half a million families and more than three million workers.
This encompasses diverse sub-initiatives and campaigns, the food bank shared, including the ‘Your Iftar is on Us’ campaign, the ‘No for Wasting Food initiative, the ‘Cook of Thousand Meals’ initiative, ‘Food Parcel,’ and ‘Iftar with the Workers.’
Further, twenty-five educational programs will be implemented to raise awareness of environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and volunteering.
Over 5,000 volunteers will participate in supporting the bank’s initiatives throughout the month of Ramadan.
The food bank will also sign five partnership agreements aimed at strengthening its efforts in this space, and shared that it anticipates a large number of strategic partners and supporters from food facilities, hotels, and companies, exceeding 350.
H.E. Dawoud Al Hajri, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the UAE Food Bank, said: “With these initiatives, our objective is to promote responsible food management and reduce food waste. We further aspire to cultivate a sense of social responsibility, encourage volunteerism, and actively engage in gathering and distributing financial and food donations to beneficiaries. Our efforts are aimed at instilling values of compassion, generosity, and solidarity within the community, ensuring the efficient distribution of surplus food to the widest possible segment during the holy month of Ramadan.”
Since its inception in 2017, the UAE Food Bank has successfully distributed meals to over 35 million local and global beneficiaries.
In recent years, food production and availability challenges have multiplied in the MENA, driven by a number of crises. Climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war have all depleted countries’ resources to varying degrees and resulted in agricultural labour shortages.
Yet, at a time when the region is suffering from severe shortages in the availability of food and regional rates of hunger range from moderate to severe, food waste remains high, creating further imbalance.
Food import disruptions
As the world set out on recovery from COVID-19, which had already caused widespread supply chain disruptions and worsened food insecurity, Russia invaded Ukraine, triggering a domino effect.
In 2022, for example, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) highlighted the Russian Federation and Ukraine as important players in three main markets: food, fuel, and fertiliser.
And indeed, with Russia and Ukraine responsible for nearly a third of the world’s wheat and barley exports and around 15 per cent of corn, the outbreak of the war significantly disrupted grain imports.
In fact, 50 countries depend on the Russian Federation and Ukraine for at least 30 per cent of their wheat imports, including a number of MENA countries, meaning the region was significantly affected.
Russia is also the top exporter of nitrogen fertilisers, the second largest exporter of potassium fertilisers, and the third biggest exporter of phosphorous fertilisers, resulting in disruption across global agricultural markets, and while fertiliser prices have fallen in subsequent years, they remain high.
This has all had a knock-on effect on food prices.
During March 2022, for example, the FAO Food Price Index reached its highest level since its establishment in 1990, reaching 160 points. This resulted in the FAO Global Food Import
Financing Facility (FIFF), an instrument aimed at protecting low- and middle-income countries from the shocks of high food prices.
The importance of reducing food waste
Against this backdrop of crisis, there is a renewed focus on the importance of conserving resources and curbing food waste.
Globally, the world wastes or loses over a third of food a year, with the Middle East in particular having some of the highest rates globally.
During religious periods and holidays, food waste skyrocket. For example, the holy month of Ramadan sees the food waste figure rise even higher, with between 25 and 50 per cent of prepared food wasted.
How is food wasted?
However, it’s important to note that food waste occurs throughout each stage of production, even before it reaches the consumer.
Globally, approximately 15 per cent of food produced doesn’t make it off the farm. In the harvest stage, this can be down to crop damage, or poor storage, where inadequate storage facilities cause deterioration in quality and facilitate the spreading of pests.
Later, poor methods deployed during processing and packaging can result in spillage, damage or contamination of food.
Further losses are made during transportation and distribution, all the way to the retail and wholesale markets, where poor infrastructure and handling result in damage to crops and products.
The final stage takes place in hotels, restaurants and homes, responsible for around 17 per cent of food loss and waste (FLW). At this stage, a number of factors are to blame, from lack of education and improper storage to overbuying and large portions.
In fact, in total, food loss and waste amount to 250 kg per capita in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, which represents more than a staggering 60 billion US dollars annually, according to FAO estimates.
Further, despite the region depending on imports to meet more than 50 per cent of its food needs, it loses around a third of this to FLW.
This includes between 14 and 19 per cent of grains, 26 per cent of all fish and marine foods, 13 per cent of meat and 45 per cent of all vegetables and fruits.
Overall, nearly two-thirds of food is lost during the production, processing, preparation and
distribution of food, and a third of it is wasted at the consumer level.
According to the 2021 UNEP Food Waste Index Report, globally this contributes to 8-10 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.
Hunger increases in parallel
Despite these high FLW levels, at the global level, roughly three billion people are unable to afford a healthy diet. Further, in the MENA, on average, nearly one in five children is stunted and the average wasting rate sits at 7 per cent.
This aligns with FAO data released last year, which highlighted that in 2022, the number of undernourished people in the region reached 59.8 million. This represents 12.9 per cent of the total population, significantly above the global average of 9.2 per cent.
This number also represents an increase of 75.9 per cent since 2010, and in countries experiencing conflict, undernourishment rates are even higher – by four times.
Acute food insecurity, meanwhile, affects 61.0 million people in the region, with 170.1 million affected by moderate or severe food insecurity.
Driving forward food waste solutions
Ultimately, food waste is part of a connected cycle that threatens the MENA’s food security.
Finding solutions here is a crucial part of improving food availability and access, alleviating the
increasing strain on resources and tackling the climate crisis.
Regionally, we have seen a number of initiatives, pledges and policies aimed at tackling food waste through awareness and education.
This includes UAE’s nationwide action plan aimed at reducing food waste by 50 per cent by 2030, and regional initiatives such as ne’ma. Similar initiatives and policies have been implemented in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and beyond.
Meanwhile, in the private sector, we have seen the power of partnership in uniting different parts of the supply chain, with food banks teaming up with tech companies and hotels, and food innovators upcycling ingredients.
However, to cut food waste in half by 2030, reduce emissions and combat food insecurity and hunger in the region, this impact needs to scale further and behaviour patterns must shift.
Amazon UAE has announced the continuation of its partnership with UAE Food Bank to launch the 2024 edition of meal donation program, ‘Iftar on Wheels.’
The partnership will see Amazon mobilise its operations, delivery network and teams to support the distribution of 50,000 kilograms of food during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
The initiative will provide a combination of grocery supplies, fresh meals, and logistics support.
The commencement of ‘Iftar on Wheels’ 2024 marks the beginning of a company-wide employee volunteering initiative that will continue throughout the rest of the year.
It will activate the largest number of volunteers this year who will participate in packing and delivering the food.
Speaking about the partnership, Manal Bin Yaroof, Executive Director of the UAE Food Bank said: “The UAE Food Bank aims to entrench the values of social responsibility and volunteerism among individuals and organizations. We do this through sustainable partnerships with various entities to raise awareness and help reduce food waste in the country. Our partnership with Amazon is now in its fourth year and we are very happy to work together once again for the ‘Iftar on Wheels’ program. Through Amazon’s scale and logistics expertise, we will further our goals by delivering meals to as many underprivileged people as possible during the Holy Month of Ramadan.”
Prashant Saran, Director of Operations, Amazon MENA added: “The Holy Month of Ramadan reminds us of the people who need our compassion. Amazon is committed to working side by side with local partners to make a positive impact in the community. This is a special time of the year when we continue to serve customers, while at the same time, utilize our scale and expertise as a force for good in the community. Our ‘Iftar on Wheels’ program will continue to deliver meals and food items to those who need them the most. Each year, our employees turn out in large numbers to pack and deliver the Ramadan meals. This year we expect to see the largest cohort of employees join in the program to share the joy of the Holy Month with the less fortunate.”
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has announced that it is utilising AI to assist it in curbing food waste.
Using the latest AI model (TRAYS), the first model specifically developed for KLM’s catering activities, the airline shared it is able to predict the number of passengers on board based on historical data.
The Meals On Board System (MOBS) receives the expected passenger numbers per flight with separate forecasts for Business, Premium Comfort and Economy classes.
The prediction starts 17 days before departure and continues until 20 minutes before the flight departs for the greatest prediction accuracy for the entire catering process from purchasing to loading.
“Investments in digital technology are a priority for KLM. The application of artificial intelligence contributes enormously to improving our flight operations and making them more sustainable. Combatting food waste is a good example of this, resulting in tens of thousands fewer meals being wasted on our flights each year,” commented Marjan Rintel, CEO and President of KLM.
KLM noted that depending on the class, between 3 per cent and 5 per cent of booked passengers do not show up (on time) for the flight. Further, a three-month analysis shows that 63 per cent less food is wasted compared to catering for every booked passenger when utilising AI.
The company shared that the largest improvement has been demonstrated in intercontinental KLM flights from Schiphol, where 2.5 fewer meals (1.3 kg) need to be thrown away per flight.
On an annual basis, this amounts to a saving of 111,000 kg in meals across all KLM flights catered from Schiphol.
The AI model TRAYS was launched at the end of last year by Kickstart AI.
“We are pleased that we have been able to make a valuable contribution to this important project for KLM. Our goal with Kickstart AI is to accelerate the adoption of AI in the Dutch business community and we look forward to working closely with Dutch companies to make this happen,” said Sander Stomph, CEO and Co-Founder of Kickstart AI.
Dubai Municipality has shared that it will participate in Gulfood 2024, which will be held from February 19 to 23 at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Dubai Municipality said the event, which is set to host over 5,500 exhibitors, will serve as a platform for the Municipality to showcase its food safety and quality efforts in the Emirate of Dubai.
Further, H.E. Dawoud Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said that the exhibition will be an opportunity to shed light on the Municipality’s efforts to create a sustainable food system in Dubai while safeguarding communities from food risks.
H.E. Al Hajri said: “During our participation at Gulfood Exhibition, we will showcase our efforts in guaranteeing food safety and quality as well as our cutting-edge digital services that facilitate import, export, and registration operations for food products and shipments. These digital services contribute to enhancing the availability of flexible, sustainable, and integrated food supply chains. It also enhances our efforts in educating food enterprises, traders, and suppliers about the most recent safety standards, food specifications, and environmental sustainability, thereby ensuring their implementation.”
During Gulfood, the Municipality will review the Dubai Food Systems Excellence Program, which recognises the best food establishments in the application of integrated standards of food safety, nutrition, environmental sustainability, community responsibility, digitisation, and innovation.
Dubai Municipality will further review its services for food merchants and suppliers, which offers them access to the IRS System for Import, Export, and Registration Services to streamline import and export procedures and track food products.
The Municipality will also promote practices that minimise food loss and waste in the Emirate and strive to bolster customer understanding of the regulations, processes, and transactions associated with food shipments.
The UAE Food Bank, an initiative under the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) umbrella, has entered into a collaborative agreement with Ferjan Dubai.
Under the agreement, the UAE Food Bank, in collaboration with Ferjan Dubai, will furnish informational content on its initiatives, campaigns, and programs related to reducing food waste throughout the holy month of Ramadan.
The bank shared that it is committed to managing surplus food resources and receiving media support from Ferjan.
There is also a joint commitment to coordinate efforts in raising awareness about best practices to minimise food waste and enhance the efficient utilisation of food within households.
Manal Bin-Yaarouf, Head of the Executive Team of the UAE Food Bank, and Alia Salem Alshamlan, Director of Ferjan Dubai, signed the agreement on the second day of the World Governments Summit 2024.
Bin-Yaarouf commented: “We are pleased to announce our partnership with Ferjan Dubai, a platform dedicated to fostering interaction and social communication among residents of Dubai. Ferjan Dubai will extend media support to the UAE Food Bank’s events throughout the holy month of Ramadan. This collaboration aims to actively engage with the bank in conveying its message, promoting the principles of community responsibility and volunteerism, reinforcing the importance of responsible food handling, and raising awareness among various segments of society, including youth, partners, and volunteers.”
Alia Alshamlan, Director of Ferjan Dubai, said: “We are pleased to enter into a strategic partnership with the UAE Food Bank. This will further strengthen our joint efforts in the field of community responsibility, including enhancing awareness among community members regarding the significance of preserving and food waste. Through careful collection, processing, and distribution adhering to top standards, we will ensure that surplus food reaches the beneficiaries, fostering a humanitarian value and approach to nourishment. In addition, the memorandum will contribute to the promotion of the concepts of recycling excess and non-consumable food, positively impacting environmental sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint associated with food waste.”
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