Artificial intelligence technology tracks US food waste

(NewsNation) — With nearly 40% of food in the United States going to waste each year, artificial intelligence technology is creating a solution to help restaurants, grocery stores and other food-centric businesses across the country track what is ending up in the trash.

Two companies, including Winnow and Afresh, have introduced AI technology that allows businesses that work with food to determine how much of the products they sell or use on a daily basis are being wasted.

In the United States, 80 million tons of food is being wasted each year, according to Feeding America, which estimates that the amount of food that lands in the trash translates to 149 million meals. A total of 46% of the wasted food comes from the food industry and 38% of all food in the U.S. goes unsold or uneaten.

That’s where AI comes into play.

Winnow installs cameras above garbage cans in restaurant kitchens and the images captured on the cameras are fed into an AI algorithm that determines just how much food is being wasted and the cost associated with what is being thrown away, the New York Times reported.

According to company estimates, restaurants have diminished their money on food costs by 8% based on what they realize they are wasting. A company spokesperson told NewsNation the company now works with 2,000 businesses in 77 countries and counts business brands like IKEA, Hilton and Marriott among its customers.

Its clients save an estimated $54 million each year by preventing the equivalent of 45 million meals from ending up in the trash. It estimates that the average food kitchens throw away about 20% of the food they purchase. Companies using the technology typically cut their food costs between 2-8%.

Afresh, meanwhile, uses artificial intelligence to monitor a grocery store’s inventory and purchases and determines how much of the store’s unsold products are being ultimately thrown away. The company’s CEO, Matt Schwartz, wrote on the company’s website that he created the company to eliminate food waste and make nutritious food more accessible.

The information generated by AI allows grocery stores to determine how much food they should be purchasing based on what is ending up in the garbage, Business Insider reported.

The companies behind the technology hope to make an environmental impact by helping restaurants, grocery stores and catering companies eliminate food waste. According to the United Nations Environmental Program, food waste accounts for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The agency said that reducing food waste at retail, food service, and household level can provide multi-faceted benefits to both humans and the planet. The technology comes at a time when the world’s population is expected to grow to more than 9.5 billion by 2050 with food demand expected to grow by 60%, UNEP said.

Meanwhile, as more food is wasted, 12.9% of the world’s population suffers from hunger while people living in poorer communities spend between 50-80% of their income on food.

“It’s a problem that literally gets swept away,” Marc Zornes, the founder of Winnow, told the New York Times.