Food waste is a global and absurd problem: according to Unep, the United Nations Environment Programme, around one third of the food produced annually for human consumption — equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes — is lost or wasted. At the same time, some 805 million people suffer from chronic malnutrition. The road to reversing this trend is long and requires decisive action. Here are some examples of companies, large and small, that have adopted an innovative approach to tackling waste.

1. Panera Bread

Panera Bread is a bakery-café chain with locations across the United States and Canada. The outlets serve fresh baked goods every day, meaning all unsold products must be discarded at closing time. Rather than throwing away bread, pastries and doughnuts that are still perfectly edible, Panera Bread sends them to local non-profit organisations. In doing so, it donates food products worth approximately 100 million dollars every year.

2. Rude Food

This Swedish catering company has completely rethought the concept of food waste. Around 95 per cent of the food served by Rude Food comes from "expired" or superficially damaged products sourced from supermarkets, businesses and canteens.

3. Original Unverpackt

The Berlin supermarket is the first in the world to operate without packaging. An entire shop that offers customers loose, unpackaged products — no plastic bags, no single-use containers, no disposable wrapping. Customers can buy exactly the quantity they need, thereby reducing food waste at home. Original Unverpackt is the grocery store of the future.

4. Darden Restaurants

The American company, which owns numerous restaurants, launched a food rescue programme — the Darden Harvest food rescue program — more than ten years ago. The initiative involves sending food that has passed its use-by date but is still good to local humanitarian organisations. Since its inception, the programme has donated more than 77 million kilograms of surplus food, amounting to over 100 million meals.

5. Sainsbury

The third-largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom has effectively reduced food waste across its stores. Edible surplus food is donated to humanitarian associations, while spoiled food is converted into clean energy to power the supermarkets. As well as being sustainable, this approach is also financially beneficial: Sainsbury saves the costs it would otherwise incur sending waste to landfill.

6. Loblaw

Nearly half of food waste — around 40 per cent — arises because products, however good they may be, can have imperfections that affect their appearance. Loblaw, Canada's largest retail chain, has decided to sell such products at a lower price to ensure they do not remain on the shelves.

7. AgriDust

Born from an idea by Italian designer Marina Ceccolini, AgriDust is revolutionising the world of 3D printing. It is a low environmental-impact alternative to plastic in the moulding sector. AgriDust uses food scraps such as mandarin peel, coffee grounds, peanut shells, bean pods, tomato skins, lemon peel and orange peel. Mixed with potato starch in a combination of 64.5 per cent waste and 35.5 per cent starch, these very common waste products have proven to be effective 3D-printable materials.

8. Zero Percent

Rajesh Karmani first became aware of America's food waste problem while studying at the University of Illinois; after graduating, he decided to do something about it. He created the Zero Percent platform, which enables food retailers to donate their surplus goods to soup kitchens and shelters in a simple and efficient way. Volunteers affiliated with non-profit organisations are notified via email alerts on their computers or smartphones whenever unsold food becomes available.

9. Kroger

Like most grocery chains, the American company Kroger produces an impressive amount of food waste — around 150 tonnes per day. Partly to avoid costly disposal fees, Kroger opted for a more innovative solution by installing an anaerobic digestion system at its distribution centre: the surplus food is converted into biogas.

10. Intermarché

French supermarket chain Intermarché, through a brilliant advertising campaign, persuaded shoppers to buy aesthetically less appealing products by playing up their funny side and launching the Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables campaign. Sales of these products increased, helped along by spokespeople such as "the grotesque apple", "the ridiculous potato" and "the ugly carrot".

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