Why sustainable living has enough on its plate without the scourge of food waste
Hotel staff highlight ‘pressure’ to serve more but Dubai says space in landfills is quickly running out
Hotels and restaurants are fuelling food waste by displaying lavish amounts for guests.
A debate in Dubai heard that the hospitality industry is causing significant amounts of waste and adding pressure on landfill sites through excessive displays for brunches and dinner buffets, as well as overstocking for corporate events.
The average UAE resident produces 2.7 kilograms of waste per day, according to Dubai Carbon. It is estimated that each year, food worth about Dh13 billion is wasted by businesses and consumers in the country.
That was one of the key findings from a panel discussion organised by Emirates Environmental Group at Dubai’s Modul University on how to reduce food waste, entitled Zero Waste: Food for Thought?
Nancy Nouaimeh, from Abela & Co, who took part in the forum, said the pressure on staff in hotels, restaurants and malls to provide vast quantities of food was a huge problem for the region. “Service staff are afraid that if they run out of food it will reflect badly on them,” she said.
“They are feeling stress from the pressure to provide plenty of food, it is sometimes the case they are afraid of possibly ruining someone’s day if they run out.”
It is no secret that Dubai is renowned for its opulent hospitality offerings, with lavish brunches a major selling point at the region’s hotels.
But all that comes at a cost, Ms Nouaimeh said.
“We need to encourage people to control their portions,” she said.
“It is about taste not waste, we cannot continue to allow so much food to be left over.”
That was a view shared by fellow panel member Fatima Ahmed Abdullah Al Harmoudi, from Tadweer (The Centre of Waste Management – Abu Dhabi).
“It is common to see partially consumed foods in malls and restaurants,” she said.
“We have to change the culture and encourage people to take only what they can eat.”
It is not unusual to experience an iftar or brunch in Dubai where there is enough food to feed hundreds of people but only a fraction of that number show up.
The question then is what happens to all that leftover food?
“It is all about education and training people to have the right mentality when it comes to serving food,” said Abdul Quddus Sheikh, director of engineering at Armani Hotel.
“We offer smaller portions than we did in the past. There is still an issue, of course, if we are hosting an event for 500 people and only 200 people show up, what happens to all that extra food?
“We freeze it and distribute it to the food banks, so there is absolutely no waste.”
The National reported in May how food banks in the UAE had collected more than 2,000 tonnes of food in the past year.
During the first quarter of 2018, the amount of foodstuffs received by the UAE Food Bank reached 232 tonnes, and they distributed 1,000 meals each Friday to workers, provided by Zabeel Palace.
Food waste is so rife that three hotel operators, Emaar, Majid Al Futtaim and Rotana, made a pledge last month to cut down and save a million meals by the end of the year. Excessive amounts in Dubai’s hotels and restaurants were not the only topic on the agenda at yesterday’s debate.
Naji Radhi, waste management and treatment expert at Dubai Municipality, said the city was running out of landfill space to cope with the amount of waste generated.
“By 2050, we will have 273 million tonnes of waste that needs to be landfilled,” he said.
“But Dubai is small and a lot of land is restricted because of [the need for] airspace. Birds are attracted to landfills because of the waste and that could cause a serious accident if it is too close to the airport.”
Also on the forum agenda was a discussion over encouraging consumers to buy more local produce rather than imported products that create more waste.
Huzefa Rupawala, regional manager of Lulu Group International, was dismissive of suggestions that local produce is too expensive for some people.
“That used to be the case five years ago when it was two or three times more expensive,” he said
“But we are now seeing an increase in demand that means more is produced, making it more widely available. People are starting to demand better quality local produce and that is something we are going to see more of.”
It is all about education and training people to have the right mentality when it comes to serving food ABDUL QUDDUS SHEIKH Director of engineering, Armani Hotel