The Apps Fighting Europe's Mountains of Wasted Restaurant Food

If the thought of needless waste makes you see red, you should probably avoid hanging out by a restaurant kitchen’s backdoor. Every day, dining spots across the world throw out an incredible amount of food. In the U.K. alone, commercial kitchens junk an estimated 600,000 tons of food annually. Clearly, this sucks for the environment, with all the energy and resources that went into producing that food going to waste when it’s chucked. It’s also unsustainable in a basic way, attacking restaurants’ bottom line in a feast-and-famine industry where overspending on supplies can easily push a struggling place under.

The obvious answer to this waste is for chefs to purchase and use supplies more carefully. Even in a well-run kitchen, however, it’s hard to eliminate waste altogether. Fluctuating numbers of daily diners mean that that even with careful planning, kitchens are often left with a few spare portions.