Apps That Help Fight Food Waste
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The thing is, 70% of this food waste is edible (with 30% being inedible, like bones, eggshells, vegetable peels and seeds). That means more than two-thirds of the food waste that ends up being thrown out could have been consumed. That is a problem for multiple reasons.
- First, this waste is creating a false demand. To meet this demand for a rapidly growing population, more and more land has to be cleared for agriculture and animal rearing. And, if the land was previously a green cover, we end up releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere, exacerbating the climate change problem.
- Second, this food waste contributes to global warming through the generation of GHGs as it decays.
- Third, the food that’s wasted is adding to the carbon footprints of individuals, households, and businesses.
- Fourth, with 8.4 million people in the UK in food poverty, we should be more conscious of the amount of food we throw out.
In short, food waste, which seems insignificant when seen in isolation, can impact our planet considerably.
Preventing food waste
This app, which now covers 17 countries across Europe and America, initially started out in Copenhagen in 2015. Used by 90 million people across these countries, Too Good to Go helps connect consumers with restaurants, cafés, and bakeries that have excess food that’s going to be thrown out.
They can then buy this food at a heavily discounted price.
You receive a surprise “magic bag”, so your guess is as good as ours on what you’re going to get, but that’s the fun part! You can specify the category you want, including vegetarian, baked goods, or groceries, but the rest is a mystery until you pick it up.
Since this app is so popular, you can easily find eateries that subscribe to it in most cities in the UK. The app is free to download both on iPhones and Androids.
Apps for consumers
Too Good to Go
This app, which now covers 17 countries across Europe and America, initially started out in Copenhagen in 2015. Used by 90 million people across these countries, Too Good to Go helps connect consumers with restaurants, cafés, and bakeries that have excess food that’s going to be thrown out.
They can then buy this food at a heavily discounted price.
You receive a surprise “magic bag”, so your guess is as good as ours on what you’re going to get, but that’s the fun part! You can specify the category you want, including vegetarian, baked goods, or groceries, but the rest is a mystery until you pick it up.
Since this app is so popular, you can easily find eateries that subscribe to it in most cities in the UK. The app is free to download both on iPhones and Androids.
Karma
Another app that connects consumers to establishments that want to put their surplus food to good use, Karma operates in a similar manner to Too Good to Go. However, since all discounted food is listed individually, you get a bit more control over what you get.
Even though the app started out in 2016 in Sweden, and is gaining popularity in the UK, it is currently only available in London and Brighton. Also, like the Too Good to Go app, it is available for free.
Olio
The Olio app is free to download, but there is an optional subscription that you have to pay for. While it is similar in concept to the previous two apps, this one connects not just consumers to businesses but also consumers to neighbours.
If you have food you won’t be using, you can list it on the app, giving someone in your local area the opportunity to collect it. It’s not just limited to food—you can also use the platform to pass on non-food household items. By sharing items you no longer need, you’re actively contributing to recycling and sustainability efforts. This approach is not only better for the environment by reducing waste, but it’s also kinder to our wallets in the long run.
NoWaste
Charity begins at home, which is the philosophy NoWaste operates on. And, considering that most food waste comes from people’s homes, this is a philosophy we can get behind.
This is an app that’s designed to help you manage food that you’ve purchased for your home. You can use it to keep track of your purchased food items and their expiry dates, helping you manage the contents of your refrigerator better.
Simply scan your receipt or product barcodes, and you can set reminders of when food is “going off”. It also offers a meal planning feature, ensuring you have no food left to throw out at the end of the week.
You can even ask questions to their AI assistant who will offer advice in seconds!
Resources for businesses
A few of the apps listed above can be used by businesses to reduce their food waste by helping consumers find items that are going to be thrown out.
According to Business Waste 40% of food wasted in the UK comes from businesses and the hospitality industry, with some of the most wasted items being; bread, milk, potatoes, cheese and apples.
Here are our favourite services that helps retailers and food & hospitality establishments redistribute food that would otherwise be wasted.
FareShare
Even though it’s not an app, FareShare is a UK-based network of charity redistributors that helps fight food waste. The organisation collaborates with local supermarkets, food manucturers, and producers to collect excess produce and ingredients and redistributes them to charities that help provide food to those in need.
Love Food, Hate Waste
Again, not an app, but this is a very handy resource. Love Food, Hate Waste is an initiative started by WRAP that offers advice to both commercial enterprises and households on how to reuse food leftovers in recipes and how to best store them.
It also offers other resources to help manage food, like a portion calculator and other good food habits.
So, there you have it—a list of apps that you can use to reduce your food waste. Of course, when waste is inevitable, it is best if it comes to us to be anaerobically digested.
That way, food waste is “fed” to bacteria that process it and release Methane (CH4) gas, which is collected and makes an excellent biofuel. The remaining slurry is high in Nitrogen and works very well as a biofertiliser.
All in all, we can help reduce the impact food waste has on the environment, whether it is collected by public sector waste management authorities from households or commercial food waste.
In conclusion, reducing food waste is not only a step toward a sustainable future but also a fantastic way to save money—potentially up to £60 a month.
Apps like Olio and Too Good To Go make it even easier by connecting people with surplus food in their communities.
For more inspiration beyond saving food through apps, check out the BBC’s handy tips for repurposing food, meal ideas, and practical advice to avoid unnecessary purchases. Websites like Love Food Hate Waste also offer excellent tools to help plan meals and reduce waste further.
These small steps not only benefit your wallet but also contribute to a healthier planet by reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with wasted food.
Food Waste Management
Our team of food waste experts at BioteCH₄ can offer a range of food waste recycling solutions. If your business wants to reduce its carbon footprint, get in touch with us.
