Feed people, not bins – it’s time to tackle food waste on our ships

Did you know that one-third of the global food production goes to waste? This is an obvious humanitarian dilemma since the amount of wasted calories is enough to end starvation. But it’s also an environmental issue. According to the World Wildlife Fund, WWF, up to 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions result from food we throw away.

Dec 11, 2023

Responsible consumption and production

Sustainability

At Stena Line, we’re embarking on an initiative to address the growing issue of food waste by collaborating with the innovation and sustainability company Generation Waste. As a first step, we will track exactly how wasteful we are.

“We know that we are wasting food on our ships and by addressing this we hope to reduce our emissions. However, we also believe this will result in more joy at work. Nobody likes to throw away a lot of what they’ve spent time and energy to prepare,” states Jakob Lells, Group Executive Chef at Stena Line.

The project starts as a pilot on the four ships connecting Germany and Sweden. All members of the onboard sales and services teams will be educated on the principles and effects of food waste. We will also do training sessions to get the hang of the digital measuring tool that will be introduced on the ships at the beginning of 2024. This tool will help us understand what kind of food is being wasted, when and why.

“We are excited to gain the knowledge to avoid overproducing food onboard,” concludes Niclas Lilja, Group Restaurants & Bars Manager at Stena Line.